AD&D - From the Ashes - Boxed Set (2e)

.Has of the Flanaess

Boxed Set [from-Tlie Atlas of the Flanaess Credits Design: Carl Sargent Editing: Anne Brown Proofreading: Anne Brown, Michelle Carter Box Cover Art and Booklet Cover Art: Jeff Easley Black and White Art: Ken Frank Interior Color Art: Valerie Valusek Border Art: Robin Raab Graphic Design: Sarah Feggestad Cartography: Diesel, Darlene Typesetting: Gaye O'Keefe Production: Paul Hanchette ®1992 TSR, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Printed in the U.S.A. ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, AD&D, GREYHAWK, and WORLD OF GREYHAWK are registered trademarks owned by TSR, Inc. The TSR logo, DM and BATTLESYSTEM are trademarks owned by TSR, Inc. Random House and its affiliate companies have worldwide distribution rights in the book trade for English language products of TSR, Inc. Distributed to the toy and hobby trade by regional distributors. Distributed to the book and hobby trade in the United Kingdom by TSR Ltd. All TSR characters, character names, and the distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks owned by TSR, Inc. This material is protected under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or unauthorized use of the material or artwork contained herein is prohibited without the express written consent of TSR, Inc. TSR, Inc. POB 756 Lake Geneva, Wl53147 USA 1064XXX1501 ISBN 1-56076-341-8 Caslon 10.5/11.5 TSR Ltd. 120 Church End, Cherry Hinton Cambridge CB1 3LB United Kingdom Table of Contents Introduction 2 The High History of the Flanaess 3 Cyclopedia 11 The Peoples of the Lands 11 Languages of the Flanaess 13 Names and Forms of Address 14 Symbols and Glyphs of the Flanaess 17 Money in the Flanaess 17 Trade in the Flanaess 17 Dark Times 19 The Lands of the Flanaess 21 Free Regions 45 Wild Regions 48 Bodies of Water 48 Forests, Jungles, and Woodlands 50 Mountains and Hills 56 Marshes and Swamps 60 Wastelands 61 Rivers of the Flanaess 63 Places of Mystery 66 Adventure Locations 72 Tales of the Year of Peace 73 General Rumors and Whispers 79 The Powers of Greyhawk 80 How Do Powers Look Upon Mortals? 80 How Do Mortals Regard the Powers? 80 Powers of Humankind 80 Powers and Avatars 81 Powers and Priesthoods 81 Details of Powers 82 Greater Powers 82 Intermediate Powers 85 Demigods 93 Relations Between Powers 95 Demihuman Powers 96

introduction F rom The Ashes is a fully revised and updated guide to Oerth, the planet that is home to the world of Greyhawk. It supercedes the old WORLD OF GREYHAWK® boxed set, updating all important information from that product. Oerth is a changed world; the events of the terrible Greyhawk Wars (documented in the boxed set of the same name) have altered it forever. Istus, goddess of Fate, endlessly spins her web of changes. The Great Kingdom is no more; Furyondy, Nyrond, Keoland, and the powers of Good are much weakened; fell Iuz stalks the Flanaess, grown great in power; and the sinister Scarlet Brotherhood schemes from the Dramidj Ocean to the Oljatt Sea. Oerth is a grim and dark place now. Yet it is still a world of unsurpassed magic, great heroes and legends, romance, and mystery. It is a world that accommodates the very best AD&D® game campaigns. Within this box, you will find the following: • The 96-page Atlas of the Flanaess (you're holding it now). This book gives a broad introduction to the lands of the Flanaess, the eastern part of Oerth's major continent, Oerik. The Atlas guides the reader through history, ancient and modern, and summarizes the events of the Greyhawk Wars. This book includes a section called the Cyclopedia of the Flanaess, which details the peoples of the Flanaess (races, languages, beliefs, and more), as well as their lands, free cities and regions, wild lands, and mysterious places of the Flanaess. Module settings and adventure locations are also included here, as are many adventure hooks and tales of the first year of peace. The conclusion of this book addresses the great deities of Greyhawk and includes rules for their servants, updating the information for AD&D® 2nd Edition game rules to include specialty priests. • The 96-page Campaign Book. This covers a much smaller area—the lands around the Free City of Greyhawk—in greater detail. The growth of influence of the Free City is explained: how it has changed since the war, the new problems it faces, and its relations with the lands around it. This does not render the City of Greyhawk boxed set obsolete; far from it. The Greyhawk afficianado will find the value of that earlier product enhanced by the update and expansion here. A full Atlas listing for the areas around the Free City details towns, castles, ruins, dangerous and mysterious locations, mercenaries, humanoids, NPCs, adventure hooks, and much more. It is a treasure trove for the DM wishing to set campaigns in and around the Free City. • Two full color mapsheets of the Flanaess, and a full color mapsheet for the Campaign Book. • Twenty cardsheets that include a wealth of useful material for the DM. These include 14 cards of reference material (climate, calendar, the rulers and peoples and resources of nations, and encounter tables for the Flanaess) and six miniadventures set in the lands described in the Campaign Book. Each of these is suitable for a short gaming session (an evening or so) and allows the DM to use From The Ashes almost at once. • Five pages of monsters in the Monstrous Compendium format. About AD&D® 2nd Edition Rules Players who have adventured in Greyhawk have no doubt recognized some discrepancies between the WORLD OF GREYHAWK boxed set and AD&D® 2nd Edition game rules. To most easily cure these discrepancies, some simple changes in game concepts must be employed. For example, the monks of the Scarlet Brotherhood are no longer monks of the original edition rules, but are now priests who use the title to reflect their monastic orientation. Their character classes have been altered slightly. Rules for characters such as rangers in the AD&D 2nd Edition game are now simply assumed to be part and parcel of the world of Greyhawk, and so on. The message to Greyhawk DMs of long-standing is: it's really not so different now. Many Greyhawk gamers are long-timers who share this author's love of the history, depth of atmosphere, and consistency of Greyhawk. Many will have been lucky enough to have experienced their first campaigns in this

introduction world, and rest assured, this world's changes combines the best of the old and the new. These changes bring new excitement and a longing for new adventure! For newcomers, read and enjoy. Now you will become part of Greyhawk's history, too. The High History of the Flanaess Most events in the Flanaess are dated by the Common Year (CY). This system commenced when the Overking of the Great Kingdom optimistically declared universal peace throughout his lands and instructed his servants to date all subsequent events from CY1. Reference Card 1 includes a full calendar of the days and months of the year under this system, as well as a timeline for the major events of the Flanaess discussed in more detail below. The history here covers the major developments among the great powers of the Flanaess over more than a milennium; the Cyclopedia of the Flanaess section gives extra details for many smaller countries. Early History The original inhabitants of the Flanaess were the Flan tribesmen, hardy and tough nomads whose small, scattered groups made no major civilizing efforts. Some thousand years past, their lands were increasingly invaded by two groups of attackers: the Suel and the Oeridians. The Suel fled from internecine strife within their own lands and the great Baklunish-Suloise Wars. They moved northeast across what is now the Sea of Dust, across the formidable Hellfurnaces and Crystalmist Mountains, and spread widely across the lands before them. The Oeridians began their migrations north for similar reasons, fleeing the same war. Both Bakluni and Suel forces employed mercenaries, bandits, and any humanoids they could hire to swell their armies. Their undisciplined rabble were often only too happy to desert and attack the Oeridians, also forcing them eastward. The Oeridians were fierce invaders. They drove everyone else, Flan and Suel, before them. Of all the invaders, they were most successful in establishing settled lands wherever they went, and any threat the Suel might have offered to their dominance was soon eliminated. Suel mages brought down the terrible Invoked Devastation on the hapless Bakluni to the north, but the last act of the Bakluni archmages was a fitting reply. The storms of the Rain of Colorless Fire reduced the Suel lands to choking dust and ash. There were few Suel or Bakluni left to emigrate after that. The Oeridians had the upper hand. The fierce Oeridian tribes hardly had matters all their own way. For two centuries, they fought the Suel and the fragmented humanoids for possession of the central lands of the Flanaess. The Oeridians incurred the enmity of the Flannae and demihumans of the lands as well. The arrogant Oeridians might have been overcome by this mix of forces, but for one thing: the Suel were far more unpleasant than the Oeridians were aggressive. The Suel invaders lied, cheated, stole, enslaved, pillaged, and killed out of hand. Over time, the Flannae and demihumans allied with the Oeridians to drive the Suel to ever more distant fringes of the Flanaess: into the northeastern Barbarian lands and into the southern jungles of Amedio and Hepmonaland. On the main continental land mass, the Suel retained a foothold only in the southwest and in the lands that would eventually belong to the Scarlet Brotherhood. Approximately 700 years past, the strongest Oeridian tribe—the Aerdi—settled the rich arable lands east of the great Nyr Dyv and there founded the Kingdom of Aerdy, eventually to be named the Great Kingdom. The Kingdom grew for well over a century, until it stretched from the Sunndi swamplands to the south to the southwestern edge of the Griff Mountains to the north; while from the islands now held by the Sea Barons to the east (where the Aerdi mixed with Flan blood), the Great Kingdom stretched westward as far as the borders of modern-day Perrenland. When the Overking of this mighty empire declared universal peace on his ceremonial crowning in Rauxes, he must have thought his writ, and that of his descendants, would extend across those many lands forever.

introduction The Great Kingdom Crumbles The Great Kingdom survived some 250 years before it began to lose lands in the west. The Viceroyalty of Furyondy was established in 100 CY, and over the coming decades it bore the brunt of challenges from non-Aerdi Oeridians allied with Bakluni horsemen who raided from the north and west. Resentment grew in the lands far from Rauxes, and a perception that the Overking did not do enough to protect the western lands also grew. Finally, in 254 CY, Thrommel I of Furyondy was crowned in Dyvers, taking a whole range of secondary titles which loudly announced his people's goals; Prince of Veluna, Marshall of the Shield Lands, Warden General of the Vesve Forest, and more. Furyondy and Veluna both became independent states, Perrenland reasserted its independence, and to the north, the rulers of the Duchy of Tenh took their cue from events to the west and asserted independence also. The Overking could not reestablish control over his distant former dominions. The break-up of the Great Kingdom, which would take over three centuries to complete and would end in madness and terror, had begun. The decisive phase in the break-up of this mighty empire can be dated precisely to 356 CY. In this year, the ruling Aerdi dynasty, the House of Rax, was sundered by an internal feud. The junior branch of the ruling house declared its lands free of the Overking's rule, and the kingdom of Nyrond was born. The Overking reacted swiftly, amassing a great army to crush the seceders. But he had the misfortune of encountering a powerful Flan barbarian foray into the North Province of the Great Kingdom itself that same winter. The Overking's armies beat off the invasion, but were too weakened to assault Nyrond. Feints, skirmishes, and small battles were plenty, but Nyrond could not be brought back into the Overking's domain. The Theocracy of the Pale seceded at the same time, and the Urnst states likewise; Nyrond held both at one time, but accepted their independence at the Council of Rel Mord in return for pledges of mutual cooperation. To the west, the oldest of all the major kingdoms established in the Flanaess, Keoland, grew more powerful and predatory in the mid-fourth century. Expanding its influence to the north, it ultimately became involved in the so-called "Small War" (or Short War) with Furyondy and Veluna. Military reverses and the objections of the small but powerful demihuman enclaves in Ulek and Celene soon put an end to that expansionism. The troubles of the times tended to be those of skirmishing; the Bandit Kingdoms had formed as a group of petty fiefdoms in the vacuum left between Furyondy to the west and Tenh and the Theocracy to the east, and in response, good nobles to the south began to coalesce their forces in the Shield Lands. Elsewhere, the Free City of Greyhawk, already in existence for centuries as a trading town, entered its arguably most glorious (and certainly most infamous) phase of development under the mad Archmage Zagig Yragerne, who began the building of Castle Greyhawk in 375 CY. It seemed a strange folly at the time. Yet two centuries later, the changes in the city of Greyhawk and those back within the Great Kingdom would be pivotal in the future history of all the Flanaess. Paradoxically, the disintegration of the Great Kingdom paused a while, despite a wretched change at its very crown. The House of Rax became decadent, self-absorbed, weak, and ineffectual. Petty nobles began to scheme, to openly flout the Overking's edicts, and to enact their own laws and pursue their own mean-minded grudges. It was only a matter of time before Rax was overthrown and a new tyrant installed as Overking and, in truth, many petty nobles were glad when it happened. After decades of pointless strife, it was almost a relief to have central power and authority again. However, few of them would have chosen Ivid I as their new master. No direct evidence links Ivid, ruler of the North Province at the time, with the assassination of the entire House of Rax in 446 CY. But Ivid ensured his ascension by the simple expedient of killing every other minor princeling who made a claim on the throne, and plenty more besides. Madness had gripped the Malachite Throne when Ivid I, scion of the House of Naelax, was proclaimed His Celestial Transcendency, Overking of Aerdy, and many knew it.

introduction The Malachite Throne became known as the "Fiend-seeing Throne." It was whispered that the House of Naelax had willingly entered into a pact with fiends—lords of the infernal tanar'ri—a pact that would endure down all the generations of their descendants. A time of terror had begun. Blood would wash the feet and hands of the madman enthroned in Rauxes. Little wonder that further secessions beset his lands. Civil war erupted in the Great Kingdom. The North Province, now ruled by Ivid's nephew, soon established independence, as did the wily Herzog of Ahlissa in the the South Province. He allied himself with the seceding Iron League: the lands of Onnwal, Idee, Sunndi, and the Free City of Ironwall. The Holy Censor, High Priest to the Overking, sought freedom for the See of Medegia. Almor grew in strength and freedom, supported by Nyrond as a buffer state between itself and the declining power of Rauxes, although Ivid managed to drag it back under his influence in later years. Momentous change beset the Great Kingdom. Not until Ivid V ascended the Fiend-seeing Throne would the Great Kingdom appear to increase in might again. This would take a century to happen and also be ultimately a temporary hiccup in the terminal decline of Aerdy. If all eyes were on the Great Kingdom for decades after Ivid's rise, it would help explain why they missed seeing the rise of a new power far to the west and north. The Rise of luz In CY479, the land now called luz was only a fractious collection of paltry fiefs. Among its princelings was a minor despot of the Howling Hills who died in that year and left his barren holdings to a son of dubious origins: luz. luz used the strategy of dividing his opponents to weaken them, then assimilating their lands and residual forces, sowing rumors and lies to put the princelings at each others' throats. He began to expand his domain far beyond its original boundaries. Refugees fleeing the lands told astonished Furyondians of Iuz's unbelievable evils: massacres; a road of skulls built from the Howling Hills to his new capital of Dorakaa; and watchtowers along the road with beacons fed on the fuel of human fat and flesh. luz was said to be a fiend himself, seven feet in height, red-skinned and feral of face. If Furyondy had acted then, luz might yet have been contained. But King Avras was opposed by southern nobles who resented excessive taxation levied to protect the northern lands, and luz grew steadily more powerful. luz disappeared in 505 CY, imprisoned beneath the towers of Castle Greyhawk by a group including Zagig, aided by St. Cuthbert (it is said). But his armies—mostly humanoids—had learned the lessons he taught them. They held to their lands; their leaders said their master would return, and they were right. War Beckons ..* In the mid-sixth century, Ivid V ascended the Malachite Throne. A series of subsequent unsuccessful skirmishes against Nyrond, the Iron League, and other adjoining states did not suggest to the distant Furyondians or Keolanders that the Great Kingdom offered much threat to anyone. But Nyrond knew better. Ivid V was a weak military strategist, but his diplomatic skills were considerable, and undoubtedly he had fiendish aid in drawing both the North and South Provinces and Medegia back under his influence and control. Nyrond saw, clearly, the Overking's preparations for a great war against the western state. Yet, when the first blow came, it did not come from Rauxes. It came from luz; meddling fools managed to release the fiend from his imprisonment in Castle Greyhawk in 570 CY, only a year after the forces of good in Furyondy and Veluna celebrated the sack of the notorious Temple of Elemental Evil in the Gnarley Forest. Their celebrations would not last many years. To the south, the existence of the highly secretive and paranoiac Scarlet Brotherhood was first confirmed by returning travelers in 573 CY. It seems incredible that this monastic sect of religious militarists could have escaped notice for so long, even given their isolation in the closed city of Kro Terlep and the remote plateau south of it. But while the secret of this land became more widely known, the existence of a veritable army of spies and assassins in the imperial courts of the Flanaess was not. The marriage of the Prince of Furyondy to the

introduction daughter of the highest-ranking noble of Veluna promised to unite the states and help solve Furyondy's internal squabbling. The Prince's abduction, surely at the hands of Scarlet Brotherhood agents, destroyed those noble hopes. When the Provost of Veluna disappeared also, the forces of good were in some disarray. Yet no one suspected the Scarlet Brotherhood. Their red-robed emissaries had wormed their way into the good books of many rulers and nobles, beginning with the states of the Iron League. When rumors surfaced of their enslavement and martialling of armies of "savages" in Hepmonaland, men and women who should have known better dismissed such rumors. It was all too far away to be bothered with. Distant lands were not the object of their attentions. And such myopia cost the powerful states of the Flanaess very, very dear. The Greyhawk Wars If a Flanaess sage had been asked in 582 CY where the first strike in a continental war would most likely come from, he would not have replied, "from the Hold of Stonefist," which is exactly where it originated. Founded some 150 years earlier, the Fists were usually considered to be slightly better-organized barbarians than those in the Bandit Kingdoms or in the neighboring lands of the Fruztii, Schnai, and Cruskii tribes. All the barbarians were inflamed by a rumor that swept their lands: that four of five legendary magical swords, the Swords of Corusk, had been found, and that when the fifth was obtained, a "Great God of the North" would rise and lead them to conquest and greatness. The fifth sword never was found, but one calling himself Vatun and claiming to be the Great God of the North appeared before the barbarians of Fruztii, Schnai, and Cruskii, and they swept west into Stonefist under his leadership. The Fists were overwhelmed and their leader, Seword Redbeard, underwent a dramatic, if not to say magical, change of allegiance. Under Vatun's direction, the Fists swept into the Duchy of Tenh in 582 CY and conquered it quickly. The Duke and Duchess fled to the County of Urnst for safety. The Tenhas' former Suloise arrogance cost them dear; no help was forthcoming from other nations. Nyrond was nervously watching Aerdy, unable to risk forces far to the north. The alliance forged by Vatun soon collapsed. The Great God instructed the barbarians to invade the small state of Ratik, but their chiefs refused; they had long allied with Ratik against the humanoids of the Bone March and indeed against the Great Kingdom itself. They began to doubt Vatun; very wisely, since Vatun was a sham and a lie, a mask worn by Iuz the Old. But now Iuz was ready to strike elsewhere, both south and east. To the east, Iuz toppled with astonishing ease the Heirarchs of the evil Horned Society, long his enemies and a thorn in the flesh of the Shield Lands. With the aid of powerful fiends, his forces made the streets of Molag run red with blood for a week. Iuz's puppets then ruled from that fell city. This strike panicked Furyondy. It sought alliance with the Shield Lands to secure itself against the Old One, but stupidly, the pettyminded rulers of the Shield Lands refused, believing this to be a step in a planned annexation by Furyondy. They paid dear for their foolishness. Iuz feinted an attack westward. Meanwhile, his main body of troops struck far to the east and southeast, into both the Bandit Kingdoms and into the Shield Lands, which they flanked to the east from bases in the old lands of the Horned Society. Admundfort and Critwall fell swiftly. Lord Holmer, who had refused a pact with Furyondy, was taken to meet his fate in the dungeons below Dorakaa. Furyondy was able to hold its eastern border at the great Battle of Critwall Bridge in CY583. To the north, however, a massed humanoid force, swollen with mercenary humanoids from the Vesve Forest hired with looted gold, advanced almost unto Chendl, the capital, and took Crockport. After many battles and a desperate relief of a beseiged Chendl, both Furyondy and Iuz were stretched to their limits. Still, to many it seemed like a provincial war of northern states; which is when the true hammer blow fell. The Great Kingdom struck, massively and on many fronts. ••.; - . ;•;#•;•

mtroi The Great Kingdom Awakens Despite their anxiety about Aerdy, the Nyrondese had begun to take steps against the Fists pillaging the Duchy of Tenh. Nyrond moved troops into the Phostwood and attacked to the north. While they advanced some, their losses against the determined Fists were higher than expected, and the army could not continue its advance so far from Nyrond borders. Nyrondese caution was wise. Aerdy struck south, west, and southwest. 1b the south and southwest, Aerdi forces attacked the states of the Iron League; to the west, they moved through Almor and on toward Nyrond. Almor was swiftly subdued, but under the legendary Commandant Osson, one Almorian army led the Aerdi forces in a merry dance by moving through Ahlissa, Sunndi, and even into Medegia before its daring but ultimately pointless deed was put to the sword. The winter brought respite on the field of war and time for desperate diplomacy. The Iron League allied with Nyrond, its old protector, but suffered immediately from a startling secession from its own ranks. Prince Lathac Ranold of the Lordship of the Isles was replaced by a distant cousin who at once announced his support for the Scarlet Brotherhood. Too late, their machinations began to dawn on the beleaguered forces of good. And Nyrond had another threat to contend with: the Bone March humanoids skirmished with Ratik and Nyrond itself. To the west, matters appeared more secure. Realizing the true threat of Iuz, the southern states allied in signing the Treaty of Niole Dra, which brought together Keoland, the Yeomanry, the Gran March, and the Duchy and County of Ulek. Even isolationist Celene agreed to send a token force to join with the others in assisting Furyondy. Yet Iuz himself had not been idle, and while his overtures to Perrenland proved largely fruitless, he was welcomed in the western Baklunish land of Ket. Its rulers saw the chance to annex the fertile lands of Bissel and to secure a southern bulwark. Iuz saw the opportunity to divide the forces of the southern lands. The spring of CY584 brought a renewal of hostilities and abundant bloodshed. T h e Fina l Ac t vlj ' ''...,.^.;i.(;.: ',. Scene 1: Sunset in the West ' "s "' J f! Added to the phalanx of forces poised to strike came a new force: the hitherto unremarked humanoid rabble of the Pomarj. United under a half-ore leader of greater strength than had been seen before, one Turrosh Mak, they strove to reclaim the "birthright" their new tyrant stressed to them: their old homes in the Lortmils. Striking into lands poorly defended as the southern armies moved northward, Turrosh's armies annexed the eastern half of the Principality of Ulek (now unaided by any neighbor) and the southern lands of the Wild Coast with their squabbling cities. They were stopped at the Pass of Celene by brave dwarves, gnomes, humans, and a handful of elves furious at the unwillingness of Queen Yolande of Celene to help the main cause of good. But Turrosh was satisfied; his fief had swollen in size, and while stymied in further territorial ambitions, there was none to threaten him with retaliation. To the north, Ket raiders beset Bissel, and the Ulek forces crucial to its defense dithered between defending that small state and protecting Furyondy against Iuz. Bissel was eventually forced to surrender by the fierce horsemen of Ket. This could have been avoided but for another fell stroke worse than the eruption of humanoids from the Pomarj. From the Crystalmist Mountains, great forces of giants and humanoids swept down into the Grand Duchy of Geoff, Sterich, and into the Yeomanry. In the latter, they were repulsed by peasant levies as worthy in battle as many seasoned veterans. Geoff and Sterich fell, the Keolandish armies too distant to oppose the invaders. The giant troubles, as they were called, have been ascribed to all manner of evil schemings. Some sages say that the tanar'ri power Zuggtmoy, freed from her prison in the Temple of Elemental Evil by the meddling Lord Robilar, allied with Iuz and drew forth the giants via agents in the Underdark. Some say Lolth had her own schemes and her drow organized the giants. Still others see the hand of the Scarlet Brotherhood in this, as in so many things. The truth is obscured from our view. In this matter, Istus spun her web ,\ . •':',

introduction impenetrably. But the effect was to present the Keoland-Furyondy axis and its allies with threats from the west when they were beset in the north. It destroyed all possibility of sweeping back the forces of Iuz. But Iuz was well defeated by Belvor of Furyondy, acting with the elves and rangers of the Vesve Forest, to prevent his drive into Furyondy from gaining any further lands, and Chendl was secured. The forces of Veluna held off Kettite incursions aimed at Mitrik. If good could not win, it held evil at bay. Scene 2: Death of a Kingdom Overking Ivid V decided to command his armies personally in the campaign of CY584, the greatest mistake he ever made. Paranoid virtually beyond the limits of mere insanity, the Overking's assault on Nyrond was broken at the battle of Innspa where Aerdy forces were utterly routed. Ivid's response was characteristic: he executed anyone involved in leading the armies. He executed more of his own nobles. He executed servants, sages, and serfs. Finally, Ivid V decided to create utterly loyal servitors among his generals and nobles. He expediently had them murdered and raised in unique undead forms; each was revived as an animus, an undead being possessing all the skills and talents of the former living person. With the logic of the terminally deranged, Ivid came to see this revivification as a reward for his favored courtiers. Unsurprisingly, as Nyrond defeated Aerdy forces and their demented monarch offered them death and eternal restlessness as a gift, the nobles of the Great Kingdom schemed and plotted and had Ivid assassinated. Unfortunately for them, priests of Hextor (with fiendish aid, most agree) revivified Ivid who rose as an animus monarch. Executions were no longer enough for Ivid. Now he instigated wholesale massacres and genocide. The North Province seceded, and with the aid of humanoids from the Bone March, succeeded in repelling Nyrondese forces in the Flinty Hills. Wisely, the Nyrondese held off from further massed battles, perhaps sensing the imminent

introduction collapse of Aerdy. The North Province's secession did indeed trigger the complete disintegration of the Great Kingdom. Animus nobles across the land (and the few still living) withdrew all support and the remnants of their armies from the Overking. The Great Kingdom was no more; a welter of petty states, ruled by disputatious nobles (many of them undead), was all that was left. An empire that had stretched from Perrenland to the Aerdi Sea had been wholly expunged in less than four hundred years. Sic transit gloria mundi (or its Oeridian equivalent): so passes away the glory of the world. Scene 3: Those Who Watch .. . The biggest winners of the Greyhawk Wars were those who never fielded a force of their own people on the plains of battle. The Scarlet Brotherhood pursued their own ends by treachery, deceit, intrigues, magical compulsion, and strategies unused by others: the breeding of special monsters and the enslavement of so-called savages. When the Great Kingdom sought to exert its power in 583 CY, the Brotherhood did indeed support the Iron League secretly: with weapons, equipment, funds, advisors, and mercenaries. The Father of Obedience wanted a buffer between the Brotherhood and the mad Overking. But at the same time, Brotherhood agents undermined the unity of the League, and when the Great Kingdom fell apart, the Scarlet Brotherhood demanded the surrender of the Iron League states. When they refused, assassins slew nobles and rulers by the score. Far to the west, too, the Sea Princes capitulated to the unknown assassins of the Brotherhood, and as Onnwal and Idee fell to the fleets and Hepmonaland armies raised by the men in red, the Brotherhood secured an iron grip on the Azure Sea. From the Sea Princes' lands and ports, the Brotherhood even sought to take Gradsul, the vital southern Keolandish port, but were repulsed. Not all of the old Iron League was lost. Wily Cobb Darg of Ironwall knew exactly where his support had been coming from, and had every Scarlet Brotherhood agent executed or exiled as Idee and Onnwal were falling. Sunndi still stood, its formidable natural defenses of hill, woodland, and swamp defying all attempts made against it. But the Brotherhood had time on their side. Alone of the major forces of the great wars, they were not spent. Not everything had to be achieved in one fell swoop. The Father of Obedience still had many agents in readiness. War's End For almost three long years, as 584 CY drew to a close, the nations of the Flanaess had schemed, murdered, and warred against each other until nearly all sides lay bloody and beaten. Proposals for a great peace treaty gained rapid acceptance in many quarters, aided by the persuasive whisperings of the agents of the Scarlet Brotherhood. In the month of Harvester, 584 CY, in the untouched Free City of Greyhawk, countless ambassadors assembled to inscribe their names on the treaty at the Day of the Great Signing. It very nearly didn't happen. Magical scrying and the strenuous efforts of sages have not availed to give the full story of what happened that day. All that is known for sure is that, within the Grand Hall where the treaty was to be signed, a fierce magical battle erupted and spread havoc through the Old City. Afterwards, two members of the famed Circle of Eight, the great mages of Greyhawk, lay dead; Otiluke and Tenser were no more. Their magical clones likewise shrivelled and perished, and their own bodies could not be resurrected. It is also known that Rary of Ket, another Circle member, was last seen fleeing with Lord Robilar into the Bright Desert, and that Rary had turned traitor and had slain his old friends. Why this is, is a tale yet in the telling. A sideshow to the main event, to be sure, but one that still shook Oerth. Despite this, the treaty was signed and the Greyhawk Wars drew to a close. The Pact of Greyhawk ensured peace—of a sort. In the Atlas of the Flanaess which follows this history, the lands of eastern Oerik are described individually, but in the cold, harsh spring of 585 CY, the global picture of the Flanaess is stark and forbidding. Evil is dominant in the north and south of the Flanaess. To the north, the lands of Iuz now stretch from the eastern Vesve Forest as far east as the Hold of Stonefist, and the Shield ;. .

introduction Lands and Bandit Kingdoms have almost wholly fallen to his reign. Only a few bandit princes still wage a guerrilla war from woodland and canyon. To the south, the Scarlet Brotherhood controls the Sea Princes, the Lordship of the Isles, Onnwall, Idee, Hepmonaland, and unknown stretches of the Amedio Jungle. Both these evil forces have gained much territory, and even if Iuz seems almost spent, who is to challenge him? The Great Kingdom is sundered, but while Ivid V rules a nightmare of a realm, the nobles who have succeeded him in so many realms are little better. The evil of these lands may no longer be united and forceful, but there are horrors here which would whiten the hair of a hero barely entered into his manhood. Just as Iuz and the Father of Obedience have gained much, so have the humanoid and giantish rabble once exiled to borderlands. The Bone March is strong, and still threatens Ratik; the Pomarj is greatly expanded and threatens Ulek and Greyhawk; the vermin of the Lost Lands (as Geoff and Sterich are now known) threaten many states to the west. To complete the picture, Ket has subjugated Bissel as a vassal state; many Bisselites have fled to Veluna or the Gran March. In the Bright Desert, Rary the Traitor and Robilar are said to be subduing the savages and raising a force which might yet beset the Free City of Greyhawk. The Queen of Celene still refuses to give the help that her western neghbors in particular need so desperately. Is all lost? Not yet. Nyrond still stands a pillar of Good; it is exhausted, spent of men and funds, but there comes no threat from once-great Aerdy, and Urnst is still strong in its defense to the west. Furyondy is beleaguered, still politically divided at times, but brave Veluna is still a land of glory and righteousness and supports its western neighbor also. Keoland and Ulek stand strong; the Yeomanry is an inspiration to good and brave hearts everywhere. And the barbarians are a law unto themselves, still raiding Aerdi, still supporting the brave folk of Ratik, still deeply hostile to the poisoned words from Stonefist. The Theocracy of the Pale is intolerant, harsh, a land of hard hearts and harder words, but is not lost to evil. Sunndi still repulses all invaders, and the brave Free City of Irongate stands as a shining beacon of freedom among a swath of fell, evil lands. No, all is not lost yet. The Free City of Greyhawk still stands also. Indeed, it is swollen with people of ability and skill. Nyrondese exiles live there, men from the Bandit Kingdoms have fled there from Iuz, the lands around the great First City have been brought within its remit by free association. Other free cities, Verbobonc and Dyvers and the honorable Highfolk, are still places where evil does not reign, and where muscle and sinew are bent to the cause of good. No; all is not yet lost. Minstrels and bards yet sing of heroes and acts of great courage and unflinching bravery against impossible odds in the halls of Nyrond, Furyondy, Keoland and their allies. Lights dim, but they are not extinguished. Good is driven down, but it is not vanquished— and hope bursts from the hearts of those who will not yield to the merciless hatred of Iuz, nor to the honeyed and poisoned words of the Scarlet Brotherhood. The Flanaess is dark—these are Dark ages indeed—and to say that it is always darkest before the dawn is a cliche, but then what is a cliche but a succinct truth? Welcome to Greyhawk.

Cyclopedia—The Peoples of the lands The Cyclopedia contains the following major sections: The Peoples of the Lands: This is a general introduction detailing races, languages, names, greetings, symbols and runes, money, trade, and general social attitudes. The Lands of the Flanaess: This is a general tour giving basic details of each of the Flanaess lands and nations, their rulers, people, politics, divisions, and history. What is presented is a thumbnail sketch of the most important aspects of each land; it is clearly impossible to give full details in a short entry. Free Regions: These are the free cities such as Dyvers, Greyhawk, and Highfolk, the fiercely independent spirits of the Flanaess. Wild Regions: Mountains, hills, forests, great woodlands, swamps, marshes and wastelands, major lakes, rivers, and oceans; all these are covered here. Places of Mystery* Isolated, dangerous, hidden places of myth and legend within the Flanaess. Adventure Locations: This short reference section locates every published module set in the World of Greyhawk on the fold-out maps. Tales of the Year of Peace: This set of rumors, tales, hints, and glimpses is for the DM to use as drop-ins in conversations, red herrings, or as ideas to develop into adventures. Locations, characters, stories, and possibilities are offered to fire the DM's imagination. The Peoples of the Lands The many human invaders of the Flanaess have intermixed over the centuries; few pure racial groups are found there now. On the fringes, however, there are still some lands where the inhabitants are almost unchanged from the racial stock of their milennium-old ancestors. Baklunish: The Baklunish people have golden-hued skins, gray-green or green eyes, and hair ranging from dark brown to blue-black. The lands of Ekbir, the Tiger Nomads, Ull, and Zeif around the Drawmij Ocean are home to this pure Baklunish strain. Farther east, racial mixing results in modified appearances: the Wolf Nomads are Baklunish mixed with Flan (from the Rovers of the Barrens), and have correspondingly darker features. In Ket, mixing with both Oeridian and Suloise folk gave rise to folk with pale yellow or golden-brown/tan skin. Flannae: The original human occupants of the Flanaess had bronze complexions varying from coppery tones to deep brown. Their eyes were dark brown, even black, or rarely amber. Likewise, their hair was always dark brown or black. The Flan are now scattered to the winds. The Rovers of the Barrens have no land to call their own; the Tenhas, pure Flan and proud of it, are enslaved by Iuz or have fled to the south; the Flan folk of Geoff and Sterich have likewise fled south and east from their homes. In the Theocracy of the Pale, Flan/Oerid descendants are lighter of skin and hair than pure Flan, and are a handsome people. Perhaps within a handful of generations, almost all Flan blood will be found only in such blends. Oeridians: The Oeridians have fairly dark skins, varying from tan to olive colors, but their hair color runs the range from honey blond to black, with brown and auburn the most common. Their eye colors are likewise variable. Pure Oeridian stock is thus less easy to spot with the casual eye than most races, but it can be seen most readily in Furyondy, Perrenland, and in the east and south of the Great Kingdom.

CycloyeAia—The veoyles of the lands Suloise: The Suel were scattered to the margins of the Flanaess in the distant past, so it is small wonder that most Suel blood has been intermixed with other racial groups. The Suel are fairskinned, some being almost albino, with red or blond (even platinum blond) hair and blue, gray, or violet eyes. The barbarian peoples of the northeast are the purest example of original Suel stock, but the Suel also dominate the Scarlet Brotherhood and the eastern islands of the Aerdi Sea. On the main continent, the Duchy of Urnst has the largest (proportionately) enclave of Suloise. Anomalous populations of Suloise are found in Hepmonaland and the Almedio Jungle; while many have developed tanned skins with heavy freckling, pale and albino faces that look utterly incongruous in the steaming jungles can still be seen. Reference Card 2 lists the dominant racial strains for the major Flanaess nations (as part of much other reference material). The importance of the racial mixes varies from region to region. The Suloise are the most jealous of their purebloodedness, perhaps reflecting their distinct differences from all other races and their history of being driven out of the main Flanaess lands (by the Oeridians, in particular). The Scarlet Brotherhood are Suloise racists, but such racism is rare. Although other groups may take strong pride in being much like their original ancestors, as the Tenhas do, those around them often do not react favorably to this (as reflected in the fall of Tenh). In the central Flanaess in particular, little attention is paid to skin color or racial ancestry, although there is a growing tendency to regard Suel folk with suspicion (not least because of the rise of the Scarlet Brotherhood). There are more important divisions within the lands to worry about in these times. Who cares whether the pikeman standing next to you is Oeridian or Baklunish, if the enemy is a hobgoblin or a fiend in the service of Iuz? Deniihumans Habits of the demihuman races are another matter. As one would expect, elven folk are found in woodland and forest, dwarves in hills and mountains, and so on. Demihumans are also drawn generally to major Free Cities such as Dyvers and Greyhawk. And there are certain lands in which demihumans are of major importance. The major elf-ruled lands are those of Celene (gray and wood elves), the Duchy of Ulek (wood and high elves), and Lendore (aquatic and high elves). Mountain dwarves dominate Irongate and the Principality of Ulek and are numerous in Ratik. The lands of Ulek, Urnst, Sunndi, Highfolk (especially), and the Valley of the Mage (a unique case) are dominated by mixes of demihumans. Veluna has always had a strong population of high elves and gnomes, and the Gran March and Keoland have had their ranks swelled by high elves and mountain dwarves fleeing Geoff and Sterich. Later entries in this Cyclopedia discuss particular regions dominated by demihumans in individual detail. Following is a broad overview of demihuman/human interactions. Halflings typically identify strongly with the good nations of the Flanaess. They are not numerous, and have no lands of their own. It is not surprising that they look to the larger folk (and other demihumans) for protection and alliances. Gnomes take a similar view. Their hilly homes have been threatened by the humanoids in particular; many have been driven into the plains of human-dominated lands where they seek help to re-establish their old heartlands. Many, too, co-exist with elves in the woodlands; where the elves are active in working with human interests, so are the gnomes. Hill gnomes often share living space with dwarves, and are a brave, tough folk who are loyal to their neighbors and fight side by side with them. Dwarves of the Flanaess are strong and stubborn people. In some lands, they need help, but are often too proud to ask for it outright; beseiged Irongate, the exiled mountain dwarves driven into the Good Hills of Keoland, and the Ulek dwarves who suffered at the hands of the Pomarj humanoids are all examples. Some of these clans feel themselves to have been wronged; the Ulek dwarves are angry with the

Cyclopedia—The Veoyles of the Lands elves of Celene for not giving them aid, and there is strain between them and the elven-dominated Duchy of Ulek, which sympathizes with the dwarves and yet dares not rebuke Celene openly. Elsewhere, the strong mountain folk are better placed; in Urnst, which has emerged strong after the war, dwarves are learning that the old glory of Nyrond needs their help even to sustain its own shadow. In Sunndi, the dwarves ally with the elves and gnomes, each experts at defending their own terrains, to keep their enemies at bay. Elves of the Flanaess are more divided. Bright Veluna has a strong elven presence that works unstintingly for good. Nyrond and Furyondy elves are vigilant against evil. The elves of the Highfolk bow no knee to Iuz, but the rulers of Celene are divided and currently favor isolationism. In Sunndi, the gray elves are warlike, aggressive, and hostile; in Lendore, the dominant high elves are philosophers, mystics, and otherworldly. There is no simple racial division within the elves, either; it is not the case that high elves are more inclined to be actively opposed to the evil of the Flanaess than gray or wood elves. What can one say of this timeless people? Some are the greatest hope of the Flanaess, while some seem to do nothing as the world threatens to collapse about them. Humanoids The humanoid races of the Flanaess have historically been driven into the least favorable areas—mountains, hills, barren plains, swamps, and marshlands. However, three lands are now dominated by them. The Bone March is home to ores, ogres, and gnolls; the Pomarj is the habitat of the same races, together with bugbears; and the Lost Lands (previously the Grand Duchy of Geoff and Sterich) have been overrun by ogres, giants, hobgoblins, and other humanoids. Iuz, of course, has many humanoids within his lands. There is no common factor that unites these marauding monsters. The ores of the Pomarj have no alliance and no communication with the ores of the Bone March, for example. Even the priesthoods of the same orcish deities have virtually no communication. The humanoids are a rabble, but that makes them no less dangerous. Languages of the Flanaess It is generally agreed that the greatest authority on languages in Oerik is Revort Leyhar, working from the Grey College of the University of Greyhawk. In his 44-volume Exegesis of Linguistic Usage by the Flanaess Peoples, he exhaustively establishes that only five dialects are used by enough folk to be properly called languages. Suloise: This exists primarily as a written language, read by those who delve into the surviving ancient tomes of the Suel peoples. Within the Scarlet Brotherhood, however, it is the only permitted spoken language for discourse within the heirarchy. A derivative, Fruz (see below), is spoken by the other major Suel group, the barbarians. Flan: This is the oldest language still spoken on an everyday basis. The Tenhas speak Flan, albeit a somewhat debased version of the oncewidespread original tongue. It is a stagnant language now, and it is difficult to translate modern or changing concepts into Flan because of the inflexibility of its vocabulary and sytax. Ancient Baklunish: This has importance as one of the roots of modern Common. It is still spoken by the Paynim tribes and among some tribes and clans in surrounding lands (Zeif, Tusmit, etc.), especially in formal addresses and for commercial dealings. Old Oeridian: Originally believed to be almost a closed language, Revort Leyhar has exploded this myth. He bases his case on the obvious fact that such a tongue could not remain free of outside influences, as was once claimed, when those who spoke it were the most widely disseminated and intermixed group throughout the Flanaess. Old Oeridian is the major basis of the Common tongue. As a written language, Old Oeridian is used almost exclusively by many everyday scribes (lawyers, clerks, and the like), in part, as a way of maintaining a monopoly on literacy (by excluding mere speakers and writers of Common), and thus their gainful employment. Exalted sages use yet more obscure scripts for

Cyclopedia—The YeoyXes of the Lands the same reasons. Most major archives and libraries have a wealth of materials written in Old Oeridian. Common: Primarily derived from Ancient Baklunish and Old Oeridian, Common evolved primarily from the need for a universal language that could be employed in trade and diplomacy and filtered down to the common folk over the centuries. It is now the primary spoken human tongue in almost all nations of the Flanaess. In addition, a handful of dialects and sublanguages have particular importance. Ferral: This is a derivative of an Oeridian tribal language, used, until recently, in the diplomacy of the Iron League. Some documents which were saved from its fall (and some still extant in Sunndi and Irongate) are written in this tongue. Ferral was used primarily for command and identification purposes, being a formalized dialect amounting to little more than a set of signals and tags with poor verbal and adjectival content. It is not a true living language. Nyrondese: This is a High Oeridian dialect that mixes Common with some expressions from an Oeridian tribal tongue. It is spoken in rural areas of Nyrond by peasants, shopkeepers, and those who want to make comprehension of their expressions difficult for those they don't trust. Fruz (The Cold Tongue): This is the language of the frost, snow, and ice barbarians; it is predominantly Suloise with some Flan influences. It has no relation to Common, and even speakers of Suloise find it hard to comprehend. Velondi: This is another Oeridian tribal tongue spoken by rural folk and those in isolated communities in Veluna and its northern borders. It is not comprehensible to those who speak only Common, and is purely a spoken language today. Keolandish: An offshoot of Old Oeridian with local admixtures, Keolandish has a range of regional sub-dialects throughout Keoland and surrounding lands. Lendorian: This is an obscure dialect of Suloise once spoken in some of the Spindrift Isles and known to a scattered few in other eastern islands. It is comprehensible to Suloise and Common speakers, but is unrelated to Fruz. Lendorian is used primarily by seamen and sea voyagers, and is a spoken rather than written tongue. Lendorian is especially rich and subtle in its vocabulary as pertains to weather conditions and natural phenomena, as befits its usage. It is not to be confused with Lendorian Elvish (see below). Alignment and Nonhuman Tongues: These exist under standard AD&D® game rules, with one exception worthy of note: the Lendorian Elvish tongue. This is a highly complex, symbolic language unique to the Lendore elves, spoken by both the high and aquatic elves of the Lendore Isle. It fulfils the functions of philosophical discourse, religious devotions, and social intercourse. It is a language that cannot be voluntarily learned (one must grow up with it). More details of this unique language are found in the Cyclopedia entry for the Lendore Isles. Names and Forms of Address Systems of naming are wide and varied in the Flanaess, with many local customs. Following are some general guidelines. Common Humanity: Most ordinary folk have only a single name. Among those with a trade of almost any kind, this is usually added to one's name (i.e., "Gorell the Woodcutter"). If a family member within a couple of generations has some reasonable local fame, that can be substituted for the career tag (hence, "Marran, cousin of Hewell the Orc-cleaver"). When traveling, one's home becomes part of one's name for the purpose of addressing strangers (thus, "Kendren of Hookhill"). Exiles: Because so many folk have fled their original lands as refugees in the last three years, it is common for them to use their original homeland as part of their name, whether they're com-

Cyclopedia—The Veoyles of the lands mon humanity or adventurers. This even takes precedence over any label linked to heroism. Hence, the Tenha warrior Storgrim Dragonspike would be Storgrim of Tenh, now that he is exiled in Nyrond, for example. In many cases, such exile is obvious (the Flan Tenhas are fairly conspicuous in appearance), but most stress it almost with pride. Nobles: In almost all lands, nobles are addressed by title and first name, then by family/ location as well (in a truly formal address). Lord Nellist would be happy with this address on an everyday basis, but at a court, he would be known as Lord Nellist Egremont (family) of Woodwych (home). Of the following titles, not all exist in all lands, but the order of eminence is consistent: Emperor, King, Duke, Prince, Margrave, Earl (Count, Plar, Graf), Viscount, Baron, Knight (with varying ranks of knighthood that vary considerably from land to land). Many exiled nobles do not use their homeland as part of their name except when absolutely necessary, because this emphasizes the pain and embarassment of their loss. Even in formal ceremonies, a tactful host will simply introduce a guest as "Lord Raschman," not "Lord Raschman of Nevond Nevnend." Unfortunately, some unscrupulous individuals look at this dropping of full formalities as an opportunity for con tricks. There are a fair number of bogus lords and counts in the more distant and less knowledgeable parts of Keoland, Nyrond, and Veluna, posing as exiles and trading on the goodwill of those deceived. Wizards: Wizards avoid long-winded names and are often known simply by one name (Mordenkainen, Bigby, etc.). Often, this occurs progressively as a mage becomes better known, and is a sign of eminence (no one says, "Mordenkainen who?" or, "which Mordenkainen?"). Some mages, though, retain first and family name, such as Jallarzi Sallavarian of the Circle of Five. Priests: Priests are known by name and the location of their temple, such as "Hamras of Leukish." Longer-winded terminologies are used only in high church circles. Demihumans: Elves always use family names, unsurprising given that siblings (and halfsibs) may be a hundred or more years apart in age. Family names are almost invariably romantic, flowery words: Starglow, Laurellan, Silverfrond, and the like. Half-elves and elves who live in and around human communities may add some local human addition to their names, either by profession or location, when dealing with humans. Dwarves also use family names, and are deeply proud of their lineages. A first meeting with a dwarf will result in him introducing himself by his first name, his clan, and then his ancestors ("son of, son of, son of. . .") for several generations. Very formal etiquette applies to this. Only a true leader among dwarves is allowed to stretch matters to six generations or more (and such a dwarf uses his full name all the time). Ordinary dwarves stick to three generations if they're being modest; four is the norm; and if die dwarf gives you five, he's either being boastful or showing a lot of trust in, and friendship toward, the listener. After this formality has been established, first-name terms gradually become employed. Dwarves differ from common humans in another important way: many of those exiled from homelands and driven out as refugees (from Sterich, the eastern Principality of Ulek, etc.) do not proclaim this, as many humans do, by referring to their old abode in their full name. It may be that they deny their loss in this refusal to name their lost home. In this respect, they behave rather like human nobles. Gnomes use both a first and a family name, and always hang some extra tag on it, whether this is the family home, the place where they work, or whatever seems most important to them at the time (so Grimmri Fischer might be "Grimmri Fischer the Jester," "Grimmri Fischer of the Highfolk," or "Grimmri Fischer, Locksmith of Greyhawk"). Halflings use first names and surnames like the gnomes do, but they often use nicknames, pet names, abbreviated names, and other devices that most other races find irksome and pretentious in the extreme. Humanoids typically use a simple first name with a clan or tribe allegiance if it needs proclaiming for any reason. Captains and clan leaders -# ~w 15

cyclopedia—The veoyles of the lands have honorifics that typically refer to favored weapons, tactics for execution or torture, disgusting personal habits, or general physical prowess. To save time, such honorifics are often linked to the clan name (so a chieftain of the Broken Skull clan might be known as Arakkosh Skullsmasher or Arakkosh Headcleaver, for example). Greetings and Farewells A few local greetings (and some other expressions of note) are listed below, for the use of travelers and the satisfaction of the overly curious. Cold iron avail you is a common exchange between warriors among the Highfolk and in Furyondy, referring to the efficacy of cold iron against certain undead (among Iuz's servants). / spit on the Old One is an almost aggressive greeting, a rejoinder to any question of one's bravery, among the same folk. It can even be a challenge to the bravery of the one so addressed. Stone endures and its variants (such as So long as stone endures and stone endures still!), is a greeting and sign of friendship among those allied with Irongate, an acknowledgment of the heroism of the dwarves there and the endurance of their walled city. 'ware and were, friend is a greeting used between, and when meeting, rangers of the Gnarley Forest, who have many friendships with werebears there. When used by an outsider, it shows politeness in that one has taken the trouble to learn something of the rangers' ways. Hands in your pockets, eyes on your purse! is a characteristic well-wishing and farewell used in the Free City of Greyhawk. It is a city ruled by thieves, after all. Are you athought?(i.e., are you thinking?) is a half-challenge or intimidation used by seniors of the Scarlet Brotherhood wishing to put juniors at a disadvantage. True believers should not think. They should just obey orders. Until the starbreak is a farewell and oath of fidelity used among the barbarians. It has two distinct meanings. The exhalation of breath in the bitter cold causes a frost and tiny cloud of snowflakes to fall, and those falling flakes are referred to as "the breaking of stars." Hence, until the starbreak is roughly equivalent to until we talk again. Also, an ancient barbarian religious myth tells that the end of the world begins with the falling of stars from the sky as the heavens break. Hence, until the starbreak also means forever. May the Axe grow great is an expression used among the exiled Knights of Holy Shielding. It refers to their deity Heironeous, who possesses a magical axe that can shrink and expand in size. The phrase expresses the desire to see good grow great, for the Shield Lands to be reclaimed, and is a general expression of goodwill, an encouragement, and a hope of better times. ••'••••• Kill your father, eat your mother is an encouragement among the ores of the Pomarj, entreating the listener to evil and notable deeds. It sounds marginally more unpleasant in original orcish. However, if the listener's parents are both dead, it is a terrible insult, for it implies that the listener is incapable of performing worthwhile acts of evil, and generally leads to a fight to the death. Forms of Proper Address Travelers and anyone mixing with exalted persons need to know correct forms of address when dealing with nobles and knights. In the states of the central Flanaess, the following forms of address are conventional: King— Your Majesty Duke— Your Highness Prince— Your Grace Archcleric, High Priest— Your Royal Highness Margrave, Marquis— Your Nobleness Earl, Count, Graf, Plar— Your Eminence Baron— Your Prominence Viscount— Your Noble Lordship Addressing a knight can be tricky; the correct form of address may be "Your Most Honorable Sir," "Right Honorable Sir," "Your Most Worthy Sir," or "Worthy Sir" for knights of established orders (in decreasing order of importance), or simply "Sir" for a humble knight. The best guide, when uncertain, is to use the most lofty address. Humbler knights will not be displeased, and nobler ones unoffended.

Cyclopedia—The Peoples of the Lands Symbols and Glyphs of the Flanaess An assortment of standard symbols, runes, and sigils has evolved almost as a pictorial analog of the Common tongue. There are times when a few inscriptions can convey as much information as a hundred or more words, and when speed is of the essence, leaving such a sign to alert the unwary can save lives and souls. Wizards, sages, rangers marking the woodlands, dwarves etching stone, and many others have contributed to this picture-language over the centuries. The most common and important of these symbols and signs are depicted here. Of course, individual secret societies and cults, sages, and wizards have their own marks and runes far too numerous to list here. The curious reader should travel to the University of Greyhawk Library and consult Zagig Yragerne's Runic Mysteries Revealed, or, more reliably, Jawal Severnain's Compendium of Signs Magical and Mundane for further details. Money in the Flanaess Coinage in the Flanaess is valued as follows: 500 copper pieces (cp) = 50 silver pieces (sp)=10 electrum pieces (ep) = 5 gold piece (gp) = 1 platinum piece (pp). In the Free City of Greyhawk, now the dominant trade center for the whole region, the coins are copper commons, silver nobles, electrum luckies, gold orbs, and platinum plates. One effect of the Greyhawk Wars is that while coinage is less willingly accepted than before (see the section on trade), if it is accepted as payment, the vendor doesn't tend to bother much about which type of gold coin is paid. Coins from Keoland are accepted in Veluna as readily as Velunese coinage, if coin is accepted at all. The one exception to this is Greyhawk coinage; this is significantly more likely to be accepted almost anywhere than other money, even locally minted coin. It is as if the Free City is seen not just as a safe haven in troubled times, but as a bank that can't default (or if it does, everything is lost in the world anyway, so why bother? Just take the coin!). Border levies on imported coin, as well as reduced rates of exchange for changing to local coinage, have all but evaporated in many countries (Nyrond still operates a 3% levy due to its desperate financial straits). Paper money in the form of promissory notes has virtually no value outside of the Free City of Greyhawk, Celene, Urnst, Perrenland, and the far northwestern lands. In most instances, it can be traded only to a pawnbroker or "debt collector* for a fraction of its face value. The cost of all items listed in the Players Handbook is increased in the Flanaess anywhere outside the following lands: all barbarian lands, nomad lands, Ekbir, Tusmit, Zeif, and Ull. Apply a basic increase of 10% to all costs, and add a minimum extra 10% in the following lands: Nyrond, Gran March, Keoland, the Yeomanry, Irongate, Sunndi, all areas of the Great Kingdom save the North Province and Rel Astra, what remains of the Wild Coast, the lands of the Sea Princes, and all lands under the sway of Iuz. These increased costs reflect the exhaustion of resources in so many lands, and the inability to renew many of them (iron mines lost to giants and humanoids, fields left untilled because so many peasant levies have suffered grievous casualties, and the like), and also population increase due to refugees. DMs are free to impose further price increases in severely affected areas as they choose, and may also increase costs substantially for items that command a premium. Examples include: good warhorses in Nyrond and throughout the Great Kingdom (where cavalry took a hammering on both sides); any form of boat or ship in Furyondy, or any trade post from which it could easily be transported there, such as Greyhawk City (since so many Furyondian naval vessels and lesser boats were lost on the Whyestil Lake in the war with Iuz); and so on. There are many regional variations. Trade in the Flanaess Barter is now at least as important as the use of coinage in almost all the Flanaess lands, and more important in some (Nyrond, Irongate, and Sunndi being good examples). In a time when

Cyclopedia—The Peoples of the lands AID (SV/PERNATVRAL) DANGER. DANGEROVS. DEADLY DRAGON, EARTH EVIL WATCHER DARKNESS DAY ELEMENTAL PLANES ' EVIL POWER. DESTRVCTIVE POWER EVIL SERVING. EVIL SERVANT INFINITY. ENDLESS INSANITY. INDVCES MADNESS IRRESISTIBLE. KEY - LIFE SPAN LIGHT „ OVERPOWERING LIFE MOVEMENT. OPPOSITION. TRAVEL OPPOSED POWER TVRSVIT POSSESSION ROYALTY SVLFVR. INFERNAL REGENERATION VNCERTAIN. QUESTIONABLE WATCHER. VIEWER, WARNING. DANGER

Cyclopedia—The Veoyles of the Lands war has exhausted so much material resource, people know that one cannot eat coinage or wear it to keep warm, nor can it be melted down to make weapons or ploughshares. Even in lands where coinage is still an important medium of exchange, it is often the case that a person with something of value will exchange his goods for other goods he needs rather than an equivalent (or slightly greater) value in coinage. This is especially true in rural areas, and in towns and cities not far from the borders of hostile lands (e.g., northern Furyondy, eastern Keoland, Ratik). The major effect of the Greyhawk Wars on trade has been to depress the volume of transactions. Most countries have far less to export than they once did, needing to retain what they manage to produce. Further, because of the general conservatism of the times, people are reluctant to undertake journeys of any significant distance to sell the produce they do have. Especially in the case of humbler products, such as cloth and food, most folk will not travel far to sell their wares. More expensive commodities such as fine wood, luxuries, ores, precious metals, gems, and finely-crafted items are less affected, but while their prices are increased, traders are increasingly cautious about travel. It's a good time to be a mercenary if you are happy guarding merchant caravans, riverboats, and barges. Dark Times Most player characters will have their homes and bases in the central nonevil Flanaess lands: Keoland, Veluna, Furyondy, Ulek, Urnst, Greyhawk City, Nyrond, and the lands around these centers. Within these lands and their allies, there is a dominant mood of the times. Above and beyond the information contained in individual entries, this atmosphere is pervasive and basic to the Flanaess. There is a general perception that peace is here, for a time. But no one believes that peace has broken out for very long. Iuz has achieved so much, so fast; he will hardly rest content for ever. The Scarlet Brotherhood was unknown until a dozen years ago, and now it strangles the Azure Sea as a mesh of creeping vines strangles a tree. Within the beleaguered central lands, the task to hand is twofold: first, to rebuild and fortify defenses with the expectation of future conflict, and second, to take little, and no strangers, on trust. Batten Down The Hatehes The need to fortify and protect is strongest in those lands and regions that border Iuz and the remnants of the Great Kingdom. This takes the form of population retreat from rural areas to cities, the building of defenses around towns and cities of any size (but few states can afford to construct major fortifications and castles), and a general preparedness of local people for trouble. As an example of how common folk behave in such times, a charming Nyrondese village that ten years ago would have welcomed strangers and offered hospitality would now be a very different place. The village might be defended by a wooden stockade wall, or at least by ditches. Strangers would be regarded suspiciously, and the locals might speak Nyrondese rather than Common in their presence. Often, such a village might demand that strangers lay down all arms, to be taken into the custody of the Serjeant or Constable of the place. If accommodation is offered at all, it would not be unusual for guests to be locked into their rooms for the night in a room with well-shuttered windows. The local priest, even if a servant of a peaceable deity and perhaps only a humble, lstlevel acolyte, would have such spells as command and protection from evil at the ready (if allowed access to the appropriate spheres of spells). There is a general tendency among ordinary folk to hold to what one has, to trust one's family and long-time friends and few others, and (especially in borderlands) to keep faith with the Power that offers protection. A resurgence of genuine devotion, and no little superstition, are commonplace. Trust No One .. . The suspiciousness of the rulers in these times comes primarily from the growing awareness of how much the Scarlet Brotherhood has achieved, and how it has achieved it. Disappear-

Cyclopedia—The Peoples of the lands ances, kidnappings, assassinations, and lying and treacherous agents posing as advisors—these engender distrust. Almost anyone who is anyone does not willingly trust the advice of a stranger in these dark days. Priests and mages using detection spells throng the courts of the influential; the school of Greater Divination has become remarkably well funded even in poor countries. Alignment languages have become more widely used; the social customs and politeness that formerly restricted its use are cast aside. Likewise, the polite foregoing of magical scrying upon even august personages has been given up. Spying and sneaking has become a tool widely used by many rulers; one side-effect of this is that many thieves have found themselves receiving offers of employment from a Duke or Count who previously might have preferred them hanged. On the borderlands, rangers could forever give up sleeping and still not accomplish more than a small part of what is asked of them. Established orders of knighthood, noble and learned societies, and the like draw in their horns and speak far less than they listen. The Law of the Lands Even in many of the most civilized lands, the rule of law is less centralized than before the Wars. There is a strong tendency for local nobles to rule their fiefs as they see fit, although they do not actively oppose their rulers in most cases. In borderlands, local communities are almost a law unto themselves, with a Serjeant or Sheriff (often elected by elders, or the whole population of a village) responsible for dealing with miscreants. Central authority often cannot afford to do more than send out militia to aid tax collectors. There are exceptions to this; Gran March, Keoland, Veluna, the Urnst and Ulek lands, and the lands around Greyhawk still retain pre-war standards of law. In Furyondy and Nyrond in particular, matters are less organized. All this shouldn't be taken to mean that everyone encountered along the roadside, or in cities and towns, is wildly paranoid. Rather, folk take wise precautions, and rulers vacillate and hesitate until they have what they perceive to be all the facts they need to make decisions. In itself, the latter is a minor triumph of evil, and there are certainly those who speak out against this rising tide of conservatism. They are not widely listened to. A Time To Adventure! Paradoxically, while caution and conservatism are the prevailing mood, there is also a moody, impulsive tendency to a degree of rashness in many lands. When so much hangs in the balance, wisdom may dictate that putting a little resource into speculative ventures may be no bad idea. As one example, even the notoriously tightfisted dwarves of Irongate are said to have paid good gold to equip a powerful adventuring party seeking a reputed stone of controlling earth elementals lost below the Abbor Alz mountains. Such -a magical treasure would be of major value in fortifying Irongate's defenses. Expeditions to lost burial mounds, deadly lich mazes, ancient treasure sites, and the like are certainly not being abandoned. Because the central Flanaess states are unwilling to risk their own best men and women in such ventures, they will often seek to employ mercenary adventurers for such speculative forays. Such employment will often be offered through intermediaries, and the hirelings will often be magically scryed upon to check their alignment and trustworthiness. Submitting to quest or geas spells may be demanded if the reward offered is great. Even so, there may be no better time in Greyhawk's history to be a freebooter, and the Free City itself is the place to go to become one. Has Peace Really Broken Out? Yes and no. The great powers of the War agreed to the Pact of Greyhawk, and certainly Nyrond, Furyondy, Veluna, Ket, the remnants of Aerdy, and Iuz have no plans for major aggression against their former enemies. However, the Scarlet Brotherhood is still well placed to continue its intrigues and subversions, even if technically bound not to wage war.

Cyclopedia—The lands of the Flanaess There are also places where skirmishing is virtually guaranteed to continue. The most obvious locations are Geoff and Sterich, where the exiled local people will certainly fight to regain their old lands, but no massed battles could be fought due to weakness of numbers and arms. A similar state of affairs exists in the Pomarj; Turrosh Mak signed no peace treaty, and the Ulek states, and possibly individual interests in the Suss Forest, Lortmils, and Wild Coast might also skirmish against the Pomarj. The Vesve Forest will surely see its share of skirmishing. The exiles in the Hornwood are still desperately trying to fight their way out; bandits in and around the Fellreev Forest and the Rift Canyon still raid Iuz's forces; the barbarians will raid the Great Kingdom; the Sea Barons aren't a peaceful bunch; Ratik and the Bone March are at each other's throats. There may not be war on the scale of the last three years, but mercenaries still have plenty of people ready to employ them, and some of those erstwhile employers still have the funds to take them on. The Lands of the Flanaess What follows is an alphabetical guide to all nations of the Flanaess, including their history, nature, and contemporary events. The lands that have been conquered by others still receive an individual entry, with notes on whether populations are exiled (and if so, where), enslaved, lost, or simply unknown. Each entry is descriptive, with some important reference statistics on Reference Card 2 (population, demihumans, humanoids, major resources). The ruler of each country is given in the main entries as well as on the reference card. A ruler noted in parentheses is the true ruler of a land, acting through a nominal ruler puppet or having displaced an exiled ruler. Some important notes apply to the reference card statistics: • Capital and Ruler are both given in the main entry, but the card also shows the class, level, and alignment of a nation's ruler. • Population applies to humans only and gives the number of relatively able-bodied adults in the

Cyclopedia—The lands of the Tlanaess territory. The settlement of this population follows standard patterns. In most lands, some 50% of the human population will be settled within cities and major towns, a figure which has increased sharply during and since the wars. Other communities are almost always settled by a river, lake, major trade route, or vital natural resource (mines being the obvious example). As for communications between communities, there are roads between major cities within each state which have been well maintained in past years and have not yet degenerated due to disrepair. Villages, smaller towns, and border forts are connected to such cities, and to each other, only by poor quality roads and cart tracks. In the Ulek states, the Urnst states, Furyondy, Veluna, and Nyrond, matters are slightly better with a superior quality of secondary roads. However, in Furyondy and Nyrond, these are already beginning to show the signs of neglect from the wars, and will continue to deteriorate. • Races is the mix of human races to be found in each land, with the first letter being the predominant strain. For example, OSf means that the humans are a mix of Oeridian and Suel with a small Flan addition to the mix. • Pop. Align is the dominant alignment(s) of the major group (humans, demihumans, or humanoids) within the land. • Demihuman and Humanoid figures apply to adults capable of fighting (a key statistic in such times). Sometimes, exact figures aren't available; no one is taking a census of post-war populations, and with isolated communities, estimating exact numbers is difficult, so less exact terms are occasionally used. • Major Resources means major resources which are available. In some cases, they may not be currently in use. Mines lost to humanoids won't yield ores, untilled fields may be fertile but won't yield grain. On the Reference Card, if a resource is currently severely underused as a direct result of the events of the wars (less than 50% of pre-War productivity), this is specifically noted. Of course, certain areas may have undiscovered resources (especially of ores, gems, etc.), but this is a quite different matter. Further, the figures listed may well change sharply within even a year of the current date, spring 585. There are still battlefields with corpses frozen from the winter that are now decomposing, fertile breeding grounds for pandemic disease. Local skirmishings will be certain in the lands close to humanoids. Refugee emigrations may start afresh as rumors and scares create waves of panic among nervous commonfolk. Iuz may be bound not to wage war, but creating threatening-looking freak weather, dread omens playing on folk superstitions, and the like are certainly not beyond him. The brief section Tales of the Year of Peace toward the end of this long Cyclopedia gives some hint of what may yet befall the Flanaess. AHLISSA: see Great Kingdom, South Province ALMOR: see Great Kingdom BANDIT KINGDOMS Ruler: none (Iuz) Capital: largest city in strongest fiefdom, currently Rookroost (pop. 11,650) The Bandit Kingdoms were a collection of petty holdings founded between 300-350 CY. Originally, each little kingdom was ruled by a bandit chieftain laying claim to a noble title, although no kingdom had much territorial stability. The dominant fiefs within the lands were those of Reyhu, Grosskopf, Dimre, Johrase, and the city of Rookroost, each of which had rulers strong enough to hold their territories aginst rivals. Bandits lived by raiding Tenh, the Shield Lands, Urnst, Nyrond (more rarely), the Theocracy of the Pale, and each other. Sometimes, rival rulers would temporarily ally to fend off retributive attacks from those nations. These lands have been almost wholly occupied by the forces of Iuz since the war. The bandit forces themselves are greatly divided. Some, notably the more evil, have taken service with Iuz, who uses them to crush the last vestiges of the Rovers of the Barrens and, disclaiming responsibility, to skirmish into the Theocracy and Urnst. A number of minor servitors of Iuz control the recruited bandits and humanoids originally from the Horned Society and Iuz itself within these

Cyclopedia—The lands of the Tlanaess lands. Other bandits have fled to Urnst, granted amnesty in return for enlisting as troops or mercenaries. They often present problems for the rulers of the lands they have fled to, due to their strongly chaotic natures, drunkenness, and poor discipline. Some, including the most chaotic, continue to exist as bandits within these lands, especially in and around the Rift Canyon and the Fellsreev Forest, and these include many from the five old powerful fiefs who still display their shields proudly. These bandits are skilled horsemen and gutsy warriors despite knowing when to cut and run. They are mostly untrustworthy, but they adhere to the belief that their enemy's enemy is their friend and if they give a blood oath, they will die rather than go back on their word. The women of these lands are outnumbered by the men, but share their characteristics, including swaggering arrogance and love of strong drink. BISSfiL, MARCH OF Ruler: Graf Imran Tendulkar, Shield of the Faith Capital: Thornward (pop. 4,220) Bissel is a small state that has been a vassal of its greater neighbors for much of its history, ruled originally by Keoland, then Furyondy, and now Ket. It enjoyed less than a century of independence before the war, ruled by a succession of margraves. Both of its old rulers supported it as a buffer against Ket. Bissel traditionally employed many mercenaries in the ranks of its armies, but their presence did not avail it when Ket invaded. Bissel is a fertile land, blessed with gold in the Lorridges and the eastern edge of the Barrier Peaks, where dwarves search diligently for the precious metal. The dwarven clans were used to trading with Ket as well as Bissel, and the invading Ketites have been very careful to maintain good relations with them. Ket's invasion of Bissel was in large part opportunistic, and the Beygraf of Ket clearly hopes for further opportunities as Iuz and Furyondy weaken each other. He wished the old Margrave of Bissel, Walgar, to rule as a puppet, but the old soldier preferred death by ritual suicide after signing the treaty of surrender. Graf Imran rules instead in Beygraf Zoltan's name. The Ketites have not interfered much with the daily life of Bisselites. They know that this is a people which has a historical tradition of being a shuttlecock between powerful neighbors, and that given time, they will accept their new rulers. Or so the Ketites think. Imran has made plain his desire to retain Bissel's remaining mercenary and homegrown troops, and pays them well. If there has been any major change, it is that the Ketite priesthoods zealously seek converts among the Bisselite folk, so far without discernible success. Some Bisselites fled to the Gran March or Veluna in the face of the invaders, but most stayed, and now lead their lives much as before the wars. BLACKMOOR Ruler: His Luminous Preponderance Archbaron Besmo of Blackmoor Capital: Dantredun (pop. 700) This little-known land somehow escapes the eyes of both the Wolf Nomads and even Iuz. Its original capital, from which the land takes its name, is said to have been sacked and ruined many years ago, but below the ruins, extensive labyrinths still exist where men may find great treasures, magics, or madness and death. Neither the exact location of this city, nor that of a reputed "City of the Gods," which is said to exist in Blackmoor, is known. The sparse population of the land is known to be fierce in combat and sometimes aided by monsters, which are plentiful in Blackmoor (some say that hot springs and volcanos make this land habitable and create fecundity in the monsters which maraud the land). The expedition of Archmage Marinian of Willip was lost here without trace in 577 CY. While the dangers of Blackmoor, both magical and mundane, may be great in superstition and travelers' tales, the fact that not even Iuz seeks dominion here is telling indeed. BONE MARCH Ruler: none Capital: none; largest city is Spinecastle (pop. 6,000) Originally, this land was part of the Great Kingdom of Aerdy in its full majesty. Aerdy contested 23

Cyclopedia—The lands of the Flanaess its rulership with the barbarians, especially the Fruztii, for long centuries of tension and battle. Its sinister name comes from a great battle in which the barbarian forces were vanquished, leaving a plain of bodies so numerous that not more than a fraction could be buried. The bleached bones of corpses from that epic battle are still visible from the towers of Spinecastle. In 560 CY, the humanoids of the Rakers began major forays into these lands. Turmoil within the Great Kingdom was so great that opposition to them could not be effectively mustered. Within four years, the ores, gnolls, and ogres of the hills and mountains had swept across the lands in an orgy of pillage and slaughter. Rapacious and merciless, the humanoids attacked the North Province, the Theocracy of the Pale, Ratik (especially), and even Nyrond. During the Wars, the humanoids continued their vicious attacks on Ratik, and Grenell, Herzog of the North Province, allied with the humanoids to beat off the Nyrondese advance into Almor and beyond in the Flinty Hills. The alliance was one of desperation, but it ground the Nyrondese armies to a halt. The Bone March humanoids gained new territory from this, in the southernmost Flinty Hills and the northwestern Adri Forest, though their hold there is tenuous. The humanoids of the Bone March still seek to destroy Ratik, the beleaguered gnomes of the Flinty Hills, and any other territory they can advance into; their "alliance" with the North Province has already begun to disintegrate due to the ill-organized and undisciplined nature of these creatures. They have no leader, and are a quarrelsome rabble, but are numerous and hence dangerous. The Euroz tribe of ores (who rub their faces in the ash of burned victims when preparing for battle) are most numerous in Spinecastle, but their dominance may not last very long. They are known to subject human and demihuman (especially prized) captives to unspeakable degradations and tortures. CELENE, MONARCHY OF Ruler: Her Fey Majesty, Queen Yolande of Celene, Lady Rhalta of All Elvenkind Capital: Enstad (pop. 7,020) This small land has always been under the rule of elves, and gray elves have always been dominant within the Great Court. Centaurs, sprites, brownies, and their kin prowl the western Welkwood and Suss Forest, jealously guarding Celene's borders. Celene is renowned for magnificent green wines, bards, song, and arts of the highest achievement—or was so, before the Wars. In happier days, Celene allied well with the Ulek states, especially the elf-dominated Duchy. Historically, the states acted together against the humanoids of the Lortmil mountains, and elf and dwarf worked together to this end. However, during the wars, Celene became strongly isolationist. It did not act to help the brave dwarves and gnomes against the Pomarj invaders, even though on its own borders, its own ordinary folk had long battled against them in the Suss Forest. Perhaps Queen Yolande was ill-advised; perhaps she takes a long view, beyond the present troubles. Certainly, there are elves in Celene who believe humanity to be only marginally less barbarous than hobgoblins and ores. But many in her realm regard the elves' failure to support those who trusted and loved them as cowardice, even treachery. Some elves fought with the dwarves and gnomes at the Battle of the Pass of Celene, and they, among others, proclaim that they no longer revere the Great Court. A grouping of elves within Celene's own lands has coalesced to oppose Yolande: the Knights of Luna favor the active support of their brethren in Veluna and the Duchy of Ulek, and even support alliance with the dwarves of the Ulek states. They remain yet a secret society, although they have members in the Great Court who seek to persuade Yolande to direct support for the beleaguered nations of the central Flanaess. Celene is a land in turmoil, and Yolande's dogged refusal to become involved in the central conflicts of the Flanaess goes against the spirit of many Celenians. DYVERS, FREE CITY OF: see Free Regions

Cyclopedia—The Lands of the Flanaess EKBIR, CALIPHATE OF Ruler: His Sublime Magnificence, the Caliph of Ekbir, Xargun Capital: Ekbir City (pop. 30,650) Ekbir, the state and city, is the strongest Baklunish settlement in the whole Flanaess. Founded by survivors of the Invoked Devastation who fled northeast, the small port-city quickly grew as northern nomads came to trade with the new settlers. The Udgru Forest offered the Baklunish folk new opportunities for gamehunting, a skill hitherto unknown to them. The dominant deklo trees offered up fine timber for building ships which ply their trade across the Drawmij Ocean. Ekbiris are relatively peaceable people, and the events of the Greyhawk Wars have largely passed them by. FROST BARBARIANS (KINGDOM OF FRIZTII) Ruler: His Most Warlike Majesty, King Hundgred of the Fruztii Capital: Krakenheim (pop. 3,400) The Frost Barbarians are the weakest of the three Suel peoples inhabiting the Thillronian Peninsula (which they name Rhizia). For nearly 30 years, they have been under the thumb of the Snow Barbarians, but their defiant young king, only 20 years of age, has made it plain that he regards the Fruztii as equals to their eastern neighbors. As yet, the Snow Barbarians have not brought matters to a head, because all the barbarians have happily cooperated in opposing the Great Kingdom and allying with Ratik to fight the Bone March humanoids. The Fruztii are foremost in friendship with Ratik; this has increased their prominence in the barbarian alliance. The Frost Barbarians are a strong-willed people, stubborn and chaotic, but honorable and people of their word. They are fine seamen; their longboats are masterpieces of both construction and decoration. They are fearless fighters and suffer privations and hardship without complaint. They feast and drink to excess, and have no time for tact or manners. They do not respect book learning or wizards, but they hold their bards (skalds) in very high esteem indeed. Like the other barbarians, they feel the deception of Iuz keenly, and skirmishes against Stonefist across the Griff Mountains are currently planned by King Hundgred. Fl/RYONDY, KINGDOM OF Ruler: His Pious Majesty, King Belvor IV Capital: Chendl (pop. 13,000) Transformed nearly 350 years ago from a Viceroyalty under Aerdy rule to an independent nation, Furyondy is a fertile land but one which has suffered greatly in the Wars. Some northern territory has been lost to Iuz, and Chendl is still being rebuilt after its seige, using resources this impoverished land can barely afford. Much of its naval power was lost on the Whyestil Lake, although from Willip, a goodly remnant sails the Nyr Dyv. It suffered grievous loss of manpower during the battles against Iuz, although it has been reinforced by Shield Landers who fled here when their homeland fell. King Belvor IV must manage a balancing act, given the divisions of the seven noble houses of the kingdom. The northern nobles have been bled dry by the wars and desperately need money and men. The southern nobles resent the heavy taxes, even though they know they must pay them, and they are suspicious of excessive influence on Belvor from several quarters: from Veluna, which has a powerful say in Furyondian affairs given its greater strength; from the militaristic Knights of the Hart (sustained by the northern nobles) who urge a revenge campaign on Iuz; from the ambassador of the Highfolk, allied with Furyondy during the wars; and from those Vesve folk whose infantry similarly allied with the kingdom. Most of Furyondy's residual army strength comes from veterans and levies raised by these nobles, and the King has no money to pay for mercenaries. Belvor feels his difficulties keenly and longs to rebuild his land, which he loves deeply. He is known to finance speculative quests from his own monies. Yet even in such difficult times, ordinary Furyondians are good-natured, kindly people, sunny of disposition and not insular as so many others are (though those close to the borders with Iuz are less trusting). They understand the need for rebuilding and protection and pay very heavy taxes willingly. Most believe war will come 25

Cyclopedia—The lands of the flanaess again, within a decade, and this time it will be a fight to the finish. They are prepared to work hard and sacrifice all to that end. Furyondy is a land with a glorious past, and its people do not forget this. GEOFF, GRAND DUCHY OF Ruler: His High Radiance, Owen I, Grand Duke in exile (no ruler in his absence) Capital: Gorna (pop. 6,000) The native people, an Oeridian-Suel-Flan mix, have been driven from their homes by an invasion of giants and humanoids from the Crystalmists. Some have been enslaved, some have fled into the Gran March (including the Grand Duke, exiled in Shiboleth), and others have fled to the woodlands—the Dim Forest, the Oytwood, and some in desperate straits encircled in the Hornwood, where they work with wood elves to counterattack their invaders. Most of the original fine cavalry of the Grand Duchy managed to flee to the Gran March, while the bowmen of repute hid in the woodlands, unable to escape in time. There is little order within Geoff now, with disorganized but numerous giants and humanoids simply pillaging and ruining the land, towns, and cities. Gorna has been settled by giants, notably fomorians, who have looted the place and smashed many buildings and monuments. Rumors circulate regarding wily and freakishly intelligent leaders among the giants, but no firm evidence has been forthcoming. GRAN MARCH, THE Ruler: His Most Resolute Magnitude, Magnus Vrianian, Commandant Capital: Hookhill (pop. 7,000) The Gran March was originally established as a vassal state of Keoland, based on a militaryreligious Order of Knighthood: the Knights of the March. It has always been a militaristic land, with conscription mandatory for fit males for a period of up to seven years. Its independence came almost as a side-effect of the Small War between Veluna and Furyondy, as did a change of rulership; the Commandant is now elected by the people from the noble houses, rather than being imposed by Keoland. The Gran March is almost wholly independent of Keoland now, and has been a surprising winner in the post-war days. Its own troops, among which mailed cavalry is of exceptional quality, suffered little in the way of casualties. It has also received the cream of exiles from Bissel, Geoff (who fled there because it was nearest), and Sterich (who fled there rather than to distrusted Keoland). This well-resourced land is now powerful despite its small size, and the words of its ambassador are carefully listened to in Keoland, Veluna, and Furyondy. If the Gran March has a lingering anger, it is concern over the fate of Bissel, with which it historically had warm relations. GREAT KINGDOM (THE KINGDOM OF AERDY) Ruler: (in name only) His Celestial Transcendency, Overking of Aerdy, Archduke of Ahlissa, Idee, and Sunndi; Suzerain of Medegia; Commander of the Bone March; Lord of the Sea Barons; Protector of Almor and Onnwal; Hetman of all the Aerdi (etc., etc.), Grand Prince IvidV Capital: (in name only) Rauxes (pop. 22,200) The history of the Great Kingdom has been exhaustively detailed in the History section. Now the Great Kingdom exists only in name. The title is still used by two groups: outsiders, to refer to the whole group of fragmented lands that comprise the former Kingdom; and Ivid's pathetic retinue who pretend that, in some sense, it still exists. The brief summary that follows can sketch only the most general picture of these lands. In Rauxes, Ivid V (now referred to as the Undying One) is able to extend control over but a few hundred square miles. His courtiers are mostly animus (undead) creatures or pitiful sycophants who cater to his demented delusions of omnipotence. Daily, the Overking orders dozens of new executions of enemies real and imagined. The common people cower in their homes for fear of arbitrary punishments or the pillaging of the largely autonomous Companion Guard, the once superbly-disciplined army which was the fear of the Flanaess. It is said that fiends openly stalk Ivid's court, but their motivations remain inscrutable, and their relations with the domi-

Cyclopedia—ike lands of the Flanaess nant priesthood of Hextor are uncertain. Outside of the Overking's own domain are many holdings governed by petty nobles, both alive and undead. They are absorbed in internal conflicts, scheming against the Overking, fending off attacks from outside, and their own petty politics. Of these many areas, the following are the most important. North Province: Governed by Herzog Grace Grenell (who is alive and not yet undead), this is the largest and most powerful land within the former Great Kingdom. Grenell is an unscrupulous, utterly evil man who has an alliance with the humanoids of the Bone March. This unlikely military cooperation allowed the North Province to fend off the incursions of Nyrond, but now Grenell is obliged to aid the humanoids in their persecution of Ratik. He will almost certainly welch on this agreement. The capital of North Province is Eastfair (pop. 26,000), which is infamous for its debaucheries at court. Grenell's nobles support their Herzog simply because they consider the alternatives too unpredictable, but they have no spirit of loyalty toward him. South Province (Ahlissa): Ivid executed the old ruler, Herzog Chelor, as is traditional among Naerax cousins. The pretext was Commander Osson's triumphant fooling of Ahlissa and emharassing toying with its armies. The new ruler is Graf Reydrich, reputed to be an archmage, who simply slew rival candidates to the rulership. Reydrich has control over a fine cavalry which was not greatly reduced in strength by the Wars, and if he seeks to subjugate his neighbors, there is not much to stop him. Reydrich is certainly not an animus, although it is said that he traffics with evil creatures from the outer planes. Reydrich is known to loathe the Scarlet Brotherhood, and to covet both Irongate and Onnwal. Almor, Prelacy of: Almor has passed from the map of the Flanaess. Weakened and embarassed by Osson's exploits, it was invaded by Ivid in 584 CY and its old capital, Chathold, utterly decimated by the Overking's mages and priests. The animus Duke Szeffrin now rules half of the old Almorian lands, and this creature, formerly a greatly favored general in Ivid's armies, is reputedly one of the cruellest of the animus nobles now holding sway over so much of Aerdy. Medegia, See of: Just as Almor is no more, so has Medegia passed into history. When Osson veered into Medegia and conquered large swaths of that land, the Holy Censor made the desperate mistake of heading for Rauxes in exile. Ivid's judgment was swift; the Censor received the delights of the Endless Death (being perpetually tortured while wearing a ring of regeneration), which he still endures. When Ivid's armies finally crushed Osson's troops in this land, the Overking ordered an orgy of brutality and destruction inflicted on it and its inhabitants. Rape, pillage, torture, and the suffering of every man and woman in Medegia were what Ivid ordered, and his army was pleased to obey. Medegia was utterly despoiled, and what remains of it is barren and underpopulated. Its few surviving inhabitants are bitter, twisted, and half-mad people tormented by fiends and petty despots. Throughout the remains of the Great Kingdom, the ordinary people are wretched, desperate, and embroiled in chaos and madness. The rich resources of the lands are utterly neglected, despoiled, or ignored. Mutual trust is virtually nonexistent, even within the ties of blood and family in many instances. Aerdy is in utter turmoil, and perhaps even Istus herself knows not the fate of these lands in such times. GREYHAWK, FRE E CITY OF: see Free Regions HIGHFOLK (Free Town and Valley of the Velverdyva): see Free Regions HORNED SOCIETY Ruler: High Priestess Althea, Her Most Dread and Awful Presence (Iuz) Capital: Molag (pop. 17,750) Originally a stronghold of organized humanoid tribes among which hobgoblins were predominant, the area came under the rule of lawful evil humans from the Bandit Kingdoms some decades ago. Before the Wars, the humanoids were content to work with humans in the cause of evil,

Cyclopedia—The Lands of the Flanaess primarily directing their predations toward the old Shield Lands. Priests of Hextor and Nerull dominated the upper echelons and became the governing Hierarchs, readily aided by powerful bandit warriors and a few mages. Iuz wholly overthrew the Hierarchs in the course of the Wars; the ease with which he slew them in the terrible Molag coup is a source of wonder to many sages. His High Priestess Althea has mockingly taken the old Hierarch title of Most Dread and Awful Presence and rules this land with cruelty and sadism as her watchwords. The humanoid tribes of the lands have been well treated by Iuz and his puppet. They form essential strike forces for planned further dominion. The more promising of them also hold sway in the old Bandit Kingdom lands. Iuz himself laughingly refers to Molag as his "summer palace." Rumors continue to circulate that one or more unnamed Hierarchs managed to escape the slaughter of the Blood-Moon Festival and have taken refuge in the southwestern spur of the Fellreev Forest (or elsewhere, depending on the rumor). From there, they seek to push back the borders of Iuz's influence with the aid of the Power they serve. ICE BARBARIANS (KINGDOM OF CRUSKII) . Ruler: His Ferocious Majesty, Lolgoff Bearhear, King of Cruski; Faastal of all the Suelii Capital: Glot (pop. 5,000) The Ice Barbarians are an utterly chaotic bunch, inhabiting the bitter northern and eastern edges of the Thillonrian Peninsula. They are formidable seamen, raiding west along the northern coast of Stonefist (in summer when the break-up of ice allows this), allying with other barbarians to raid the Bone March or the North Province, or sometimes simply raiding the other barbarians or Ratik. Their most despised enemies, however, are the Sea Barons, with whom they fight an endless series of sea skirmishes. In recent years, the Cruskii have been more reliable allies with the other barbarians and most of their marauding has been directed toward the North Province. Like other barbarians, the Cruskii are proud, strong, fierce folk with a determined sense of personal honor despite their chaotic and willful natures. Their Jarls are proudly independent of the King, who exercises his authority only when he must. The Cruskii appreciate bards as all barbarians do, and they also have a superstitious half-reverence for the nomadic druids among them, whom they believe to be chosen by the Powers and/or reincarnations of special souls. IDEE, COUNTY OF Ruler: Elder Brother Vasiliek, Shepherd of Idee Capital: Naerie (pop. 5,150) Idee seceded from Aerdy in the mid-fifth century when Ivid came to power. As a member of the Iron League, with Ahlissa as a buffer, this small state became prosperous through sea trade to Onnwall and further to Nyrond, becoming a major source of income in addition to ores, gold, and livestock. However, the string of northern castles which the Counts of Idee built along their northern border, fearing Aerdy, were useless against the internal subversion and southern invasion from the sea mounted by the Scarlet Brotherhood, and Idee collapsed in a matter of days. Few folk escaped, although Duke Coriell and a powerful militia contingent managed to flee to Irongate. The local population is now ruled harshly by the Scarlet Brotherhood, who exert a reign of terror, combining scouring the land for skilled converts to their cause with spying and repression. It is rumored that many people have been carried off for use in the sinister breeding programs of the Brotherhood, and that the western Menowood is infiltrated by Hepmonaland savages imported by Vasiliek. Hard facts are difficult to obtain. •. • . • IRONGATE, FREE CITY OF: see Free Regions IUZ, LANDS OF Ruler: Iuz the Old Capital: Dorakaa (pop. 11,150) Iuz's control now extends over a vast swath of territory in the northcentral Flanaess. Iuz himself is believed to have been born a cambion, a cross between a great tanar'ri lord and a female human

Cyclopedia—The lands of the Flanaess necromancer, Iggwilv. He can take the form of a red-skinned, green-eyed fiend, or that of an almost skeletal old man, as he chooses. While Iuz was locked beneath Castle Greyhawk, his homeland was able to wait for its master because his proximate servants controlled the humanoid rabble (ores, goblins, and especially hobgoblins, swollen by recruitment from the old Horned Society lands). When Iuz was freed in 570 CY, he had great plans for the Flanaess. Risen to the power of a demi-god, Iuz has achieved more than a few of his initial goals. Iuz's capital city, Dorakaa, is a place of hideous, calculating evil. Iuz toys with his greater and lesser circles of advisers, collectively known as the Boneheart, and walks the nightmare halls of his palace conversing with all manner of fiends, drow, and fell things. It is almost certain that within Dorakaa there is a magical portal to the Abyss, allowing fiends to be drawn to Iuz's halls and service. The Boneheart are no weaklings, and include powerful necromancers, High Priests, and even an illusionist. Iuz has rewarded some of them with token rulership of the new lands of his empire. Terrifying tales circulate about events in the lands of Iuz. His priests are known to carry ebony staves tipped with silver and bound skulls, and these staves are said to have undeadanimating powers and the ability to spit acid and weave warding magics. The fiends in Iuz's armies are bad enough, but Iuz can also summon vast storms of ferocious ravens and bony bat-like magical creatures from the Outer Planes. Baony (golemlike beings with malign intelligence and mind-enfeebling gaze) are reported by some who have fled with their lives. Half-sentient, strengthsapping, freezing fogs have been said to follow fleeing refugees on the borders. A steady stream of victims from all the new lands subject to Iuz's rule is herded toward Dorakaa along the Highway of Skulls. The nature of their dispatch does not bear thinking about. Iuz lost a large part of his humanoid armies in the battles with Furyondy, and has his work cut out simply keeping control of his new lands and dealing with rebellious bandits, especially the brave guerrilla fighters of the Vesve Forest, who are supported by the Highfolk. For the time being, Iuz needs to secure what he has rather than seek more. His homeland is not rich in resources and he may be able to sustain his empire only by pillaging richer, more fecund lands. KEOLAM) Ruler: His Peerless Majesty, King Kimbertos Skotti Capital: Niole Dra (pop. 23,550) A kingdom of great antiquity, Keoland has harbored territorial ambitions regarding its neighbors for centuries. Both Ket and Veluna have had reason to fear Keoland's armies in the past. Military defeats by Ket, the disapproval of the eastern elves, and the Veluna/Furyondy alliance which drove back Keolandish troops in the Short War led to the formation of the Gran March and Bissel as northern tributary states which gradually assumed greater independence. Sterich, to the west, also gained more and more freedom. During the wars, Keoland was reluctant to aid Veluna and Furyondy against Iuz, and when Sterich was threatened, King Skotti tried to negotiate a treaty that would reestablish Keolandish control over Sterich in return for military aid. He dithered long enough over the details for Sterich to fall in the interim. The subsequent attacks from the lands of the Sea Princes, both by land and sea, gave Keoland a warning that it could not play politics much longer. Keolandish armies are well prepared and equipped, with heavy cavalry traditionally recruited from noble houses, fine light cavalry lethal with crossbows, and demihuman contingents from provinces close to Ulek. Nonetheless, Keoland suffered significant losses in battles to the north and along its southern borders, also losing a little territory along the Dreadwood. Politically, the Gran March and Ulek are now important determinants of Keolandish policy. Skotti is being forced to listen, and there is less of a swagger about Keolandish nobility after the wars. Keoland is a country rich in staples, with some gems and gold in its hills, but it badly needs time to retrench and rebuild. Skotti does not care for what he must accept from other lands while Keoland replenishes its own riches.

CycloyeAia—The lands of the Flanaess KET Ruler: His Illustrious Glory, Beygraf Zoltan, Shield of the True Faith Capital: Lopolla (pop. 22,000) Ket is the easternmost Baklunish state and a trading center between the central Flanaess and the Bakluni lands to the west. Its people are predominantly Baklunish, but there is a racial mix; trade brings exchange and intermingling of peoples, after all. Zoltan's court is an odd mix of eastern and western influences; while the Baklunish goddesses Istus and Xan Yae are widely revered, the manner of their reverencing is distinctly western, for example. Ketite raiding parties have been known to make forays into other Baklunish lands, but Ket has always feared the might of Keoland in particular, and with good cause. Its alliance with Iuz served the twin purpose of establishing Bissel as a buffer and controlling the vital trade route through the Bramblewood Pass. Ket is not a fertile land, with better pasturage than wheatland, but its reserves of copper and gold from the southern Yatils are good, and it is a prosperous land. Ket's rulers smilingly dismiss any notion of further territorial ambitions, and they may be telling the truth, though the Velunese would say otherwise. LENDORE ISLES Ruler: The Most Radiant Bow of Sehanine, Orb of the Heavens, High Priest Anfaren Silverbrow Capital: Lo Reltarma (pop. 3,200) These islands have always been a mystery, due to their native aquatic and high elves who kidnapped intruders into their realm and did not release any to tell tales. Both the Sea Barons and the Lordship of the Isles kept well away from the six isles in this chain, save Lendore Isle itself. This was populated by Suel-dominated humans who conducted much trade with the continent and paid the Barons and Lords to allow their ships to pass safely. In 583 CY, the elves moved swiftly to subjugate Lendore Isle, offering the humans safe passage to the Sea Barons, the Lordship of the Isles, Medegia, or elsewhere along the east coast of Aerdy as it then was. They simply informed the humans that the time had come for the elves to use the whole island chain for religious purposes, and no mere humans would be allowed to get in the way. A minority were permitted to stay as humble fisherfolk and laborers. The entire island chain is now shrouded in magical fogs and illusions which form an almost unnavigable barrier to the outside world. Only elves drawn to Lendore can find their way there readily. When elves leave the mortal world, they have their own secret places of safe passage and departure, and Lendore is the most important of these within the Flanaess. It is said to be watched over by no less than a dozen full Patriarchs and Matriarchs of the goddess Sehanine. Obviously, very little in the way of information about transformed Lendore filters back to the ordinary, mundane world. One story is almost certainly true, however. The elves of Lendore speak a unique, highly complex tongue: Lendorian Elvish. It is not learned in a normal manner. Rather, an elf newly arrived in Lendore gradually develops an understanding of the language as it is implanted into his mind in a series of revelatory stages. This is said to parallel a growingly otherworldly nature, drawing the elf painlessly away from his attachments to matters mundane. It is also fairly certain that Lendore is an intensely magical land, but how this may manifest, the elves do not say. LORDSHIP OF THE ISLES (PRINCI- PALITY OF) Ruler: (in name) His Exalted Highness, Prince Frolmar Ingerskatti (Scarlet Brotherhood) Capital: Sulward (pop. 5,000) This scattered principality stretches across seven islands lying between the Tilva Strait and southern Lendore, and was originally occupied by pirates. The pirates soon found that trade (especially from Hepmonaland up to the Great Kingdom) and exacting tribute from trade vessels passing through the Tilva Strait offered much easier living. During the wars, the former prince, Latmac Ranold, was suddenly deposed and replaced by a Scarlet Brotherhood puppet, who at once removed the islands from the ranks of the Iron

Cyclopedia—The lands of the Flanaess League and allied the lands with the mysterious brothers. Scarlet Brotherhood agents are now in almost all positions of power within the lands. The Lordship's vessels still trade with the anarchic states of south and east Aerdy, and continue to fight the Sea Barons as they always have. However, the Brotherhood also uses the fleet to ferry people and cargoes to Onnwall, Idee, and across the Azure Sea to the Sea Princes. A handful of the original Lords of the Isles managed to escape with their vessels to Dullstrand when they saw how the Brotherhood would subjugate them, but they have found little welcome there. Those who sailed northward met gleeful Sea Baron warships only too happy to sink them. The Lordship of the Isles is now wholly controlled by the Scarlet Brotherhood. MEDEGIA, SEE OF: see Great Kingdom NYROND, KINGDOM OF Ruler: His August Supremacy, Altmeister of all the Aerdi, King Archbold III Capital: Rel Mord (pop. 34,200) The establishment of Nyrond in 356 CY marked the beginning of the end of the Great Kingdom. But over successive decades, Nyrond itself underwent an imperialist phase, seeking to bend both the Theocracy of the Pale and the Urnst states to its will. The great Council of Rel Mord, called by King Dunstan I, led to the recall of Nyrondese troops from those lands and the creation of treaties with them, as well as with the nascent Iron League, which Nyrond supported with economic aid. For over a century thereafter, Nyrond was a bastion of strength and good, the great protector of the Flanaess against the Great Kingdom. Its armies were numerous and strong, with legendary elven and halfling scouting troops, and its treaties with the Urnst states allowed it to call on great military strength. The Nyrondese navy dominated Relmor Bay and the eastern Sea of Gearnat. Nyrondese mages were of famed power, and the nation's artisans and scholars were renowned throughout the Flanaess. The cities of Nyrond were marvels of architecture and vision.

Cyclopedia—The lands of the Flanaess The war against the Great Kingdom cost the Nyrondese armies dear, with almost 70,000 casualties, and it exhausted Nyrond's coffers, although its navy remains strong. Territory has been lost around the northeastern portion of Relmor Bay, and while the remains of Almor which hold those lands could be retaken by any moderate army, Nyrond has not the strength or will to do so. Internally, the murderously high levels of taxation, which the King is forced to exact to maintain vigilance against Iuz on the northwest as well as the Bone March humanoids across the Flinty Hills, has made the peasants and common folk rebellious. Tax riots have had to be quelled in and around the major northern trade town of Midmeadow. Some farmers plead that they cannot even afford seed to sow their fields, and many livestock have been killed for food. The vital silver mines of the Flinty Hills still yield their treasure, and this, with aid from Urnst, is all that keeps Nyrond going. Further, Nyrond has suffered an exodus of many of its best artisans, mages, scholars, and skilled folk, who have left for the richer Urnst states or for the Free City of Greyhawk. King Archbold and his advisers engage in desperate diplomacy from Keoland to the Theocracy, but with so little to offer, Nyrond's influence is weak. Its major supporters are the Urnst states, who fear Nyrond's fall, which would leave them with Iuz to the north and anarchy to the east. OLMAN ISLANDS Ruler: Brother Schelepak, Shepherd of the Olman Islands Capital: none This small and seemingly insignificant pair of islands has stategic importance, especially with the newly-established small port of Narisban allowing the Scarlet Brotherhood to wholly control the passage of ships into and from the Densac Gulf. The original inhabitants of the islands are related to the Amedio savages and have been enslaved by the Brotherhood. Other important features of these islands are the fine fruit trees of the southern island, which allow ships to replenish their stocks, and the presence on the same island of agile, lemurlike creatures possessed of great strength and an acute sense of smell. The Brotherhood is said to be experimenting with them in breeding programs. ONNWAL, STATE OF Ruler: Exalted Sister Kuranyie, Shepherd of Onnwal Capital: Scant (pop. 4,200) Originally part of the South Province, Onnwall was a founding member of the Iron League. Its fine defenses against land invasion (the Headlands), together with that alliance, made it a strong, free state. Onnwal had significant sea power, and together with Idee, formed a powerful trading center and naval base. Periodic sea raids from the navy of the Herzog of South Province were easily fended off, sometimes with secret support from Nyrond men-of-war. Onnwal was an excellent resource for the Scarlet Brotherhood to acquire through its treachery. In addition to most of its fleet (a few vessels escaped up the Nesse river and into Nyrond), Onnwall yielded platinum and silver mines in the Headlands, although clans of determined dwarves still control a significant percentage of these and manage to ship their products out through Irongate, via a long network of underground tunnels. Scant is an exceptionally well-fortified port, virtually impregnable to land or naval assault, but it fell from within at the hands of Brotherhood assassins. The ordinary folk of Onnwal are terrified of their new masters, and an especially cruel ruler imposes on this land. Because Onnwallers try to escape by sea across the Sea of Gearnat, Kuranyie keeps hostages from almost every family in the land, executing them if their relatives dare to escape. PALE, THEOCRACY OF THE Ruler: His Worshipful Mercy, Supreme Prelate of the Pale, Theocrat Ogon Tillit Capital: Wintershiven (pop. 23,400) ••••••-V# - The Theocracy of the Pale emerged as a state wholly free of Nyrondese dominance at the Council of Rel Mord, and has evolved into an ec- •'•-••••"•••& 32

Cyclopedia—The lands of the vlanaess clesiastical state of notorious intolerance. The entire church hierarchy is devoted to the reverence of Pholtus in his Lawful Neutral aspect (elsewhere, this is taken as a very one-sided view of this god). Virtually all government is under the rule of the church, which has its own bureaucracy of byzantine complexity. The Theocracy stayed well out of the Greyhawk Wars, regarding everyone involved as degenerate heretics. It was ignored by other nations; although its standing army is typically only 4,000 strong, the Church Militant is a paramilitary body of warriors and warrior-priests who are among the most disciplined, bravest, and bestequipped troops the Flanaess has ever seen. Patrolling the borders of the Theocracy, they easily fend off incursions by humanoids from the Rakers and Griffs or rabble from the Bandit Kingdoms and Tenh. The Theocracy's lands are not good for growing crops, and it is forced to trade with Urnst for food. The Theocracy formerly traded with Nyrond for food, but Nyrond can no longer afford exports. Silver and gems are the core resource of the Theocracy. Its people are deeply religious, hard-working folk whose idea of fun is singing hymns. A Theocracy saying is, "Cold weather is Pholtus's way of telling you to throw another heretic on the fire." PERRENLAN1), CONCATENATED CANTONS OF Ruler: Voorman of All Perrenland, His Gravity Karenin Capital: Schwartzenbruin (pop. 26,000) The original Flan dwellers of this land were especially fierce folk. Intermixing with other races was a slow process. They were subjected to the aggressive territorial ambitions of Ket (fairly frequently) and Furyondy (during its expansionist phase), but vigorously fought off the invaders. Their pike- and polearm-hefting hill and mountain troops were experts at warfare on the borders. The various clans of the land united around 400 CY under the leadership of the strongest clan voorman, Perren, after whom the land is named. Clan holds were marked into cantons, and the clan leaders elected a series of rulers, each holding office for eight years at most. Perrenland is prosperous, trading with the northern nomads who need manufactured items and tools. Perren folk fish the rich waters of Lake Quag in the summer. Trade with Veluna, Furyondy, and the Baklunish states to the west is brisk. Perrenland smoked cheeses are famed throughout the central Flanaess. Perrenland benefits from excellent natural defenses and mountain soldiers. Heavy cavalry, drawn from the fine plains around Schwartzenbruin, is of excellent quality and morale. Nonetheless, during the Wars, the Perrenlanders feared the might of Iuz and had no natural ally to call upon, having maintained cool relations with Ket and Furyondy for historical reasons. The Voorman Franz thus made a formal agreement with Iuz, which basically maintained Perrenland's security, but did not involve granting Iuz any aid. Perrenland wishes to be isolationist, but it needs trade at the same time, and with Ket's annexation of Bissel, it is forced to deal more with that state now than previously. Perrenlanders are deeply suspicious of foreigners, and trade missions to this land are escorted by Perrenland military from the moment they cross the border, which is well patrolled. PLAINS OF THE PAYMMS (TRIBES OF) Ruler: various nomadic leaders Capital: none Only a small part of the rolling plains inhabited by nomadic Baklunish tribes falls within the Flanaess. That part which does is sometimes devoid of human life, and at other times swarms with horsemen, livestock, and the tents and yurts of a dozen nomadic tribes. These nomads move out of the Dry Steppes in hot summers which make that area a parched wasteland, and return to find forage in the wet season. Each tribe is ruled by a noble, an Amir or Khan; greater nobles are referred to as Ilkhan, Orakhon, or Shah. Leaders of royal rank and lineage are known as Tarkhan, Padishah, or Kha Khan. These horsemen are poorly armored, using only a variety of animal skins equivalent to tough .

Cyclopedia—The Lands of the flanaess leather, but they are highly mobile and of unequalled skill. They employ bows made of animal horn and scimitars and similar curved swords. A few employ a long, slender lance and mace or flail. Their horses are very hardy and are accustomed to harsh treatment. Socially, family ties are very strong. Honor and face are central factors in the precisely-observed social rituals and ceremonies which govern much of these people's lives. Ancestor worship and a belief that the spirits of ancestors watch the deeds of the living are important to their religion. A handful of wizards among them are regarded with great awe and superstition, usually living alone in tents pitched some distance from the main camps. Only nobles usually converse with wizards. The nomads trade with Ket, Ull (which has a settled Paynim tribe), Zeif, Ekbir, and Tusmit. These nations (especially Ket) have employed Paynim horsemen as mercenaries, against each other or for forays east. POMARJ, THE Ruler: His Most Ferocious Majesty, the Despot Turrosh Mak Capital: Stoneheim (pop. 5,200) This rich peninsula was originally a collection of small states governed by the Prince of Ulek, but the local nobles drove out the Uleks and governed themselves until the early sixth century. As forces from Ulek, Veluna, and the demihumans of the Kron Hills combined to drive vast tribes of ores and goblins out of the Lortmil mountains, the humanoids fled south and east, easily overrunning the lazy and disorganized human inhabitants and securing their strongholds. Certainly, a number of wicked humans allied with the invaders, and mercenaries were bought with gold from the Stoneheim mines and moonstones from the Drachensgrab hills. For a time, the human bandits were the rulers here, but with the ascendance of Turrosh Mak shortly before the war, this changed. Turrosh, a half-ore warrior, united the humanoids and made swift strikes to annex the eastern half of the Principality of Ulek and the southern half of the old Wild Coast lands. At present, Turrosh is able to hold his kingdom together, but further attempts at conquest would bring him up against the united Ulek states, the Wild Coast cities now under Greyhawk's sway, or into Celene, each of which would offer powerful opposition. Yet his bloodthirsty and mostly chaotic humanoids were roused with a cry to "reclaim their birthright," and they look to the Lortmils still. In the interim, by no means do all of the clan leaders wholly respect Turrosh's leadership, and the Pomarj may yet fragment anew. RATIK, ARCHBARONY OF Ruler: His Valorous Prominence, Lord Baron of Ratik, Lexnol Capital: Marner (pop. 3,400) Ratik marks the northernmost part of great Aerdy's expansion in the heady days of old empire and dominion. Its magnificent pine forests offer excellent material for shipbuilding, and the land was heavily protected by good military to fend off the Frost Barbarians and, indeed, make preemptive strikes against them. Ratik was made a Barony by an Overking delighted at one firm repulsion of a barbarian fleet, and has been fortunate in having a succession of barons who have been distinctly more wise and benign than most Aerdy nobles. For this reason, the mountain dwarves and gnomes of the Rakers have worked and traded on good terms with the humans here. Ratik's relationship with the Great Kingdom cooled following the ascension of the House of Naelax in the Kingdom, which increasingly neglected this little state. When the Bone March was overrun with humanoids, Ratik began to court the Frost Barbarians, and formed an unlikely alliance with them to jointly raid the Bone March and North Province. Ratik's population is not great, so the people here can only hold their land against humanoids and not decisively repulse them. Ratik men and women are all militarily trained, and conscription is universal. Specialized woodsman troops with bows as well as sling-firing hillrunners are among the cream of Ratik's forces. Ratik is not wealthy, despite its fine natural resources, since it has few customers plying trade. The Sea Barons and Frost Barbarians buy wood here still; however, trade with the Theocracy is slow, and trade with 34

Cyclopedia—The Lands of the Flanaess cities of the North Province is extremely low. Ratikers are now even more insular and selfreliant than before the war. REL ASTRA, CITY OF: see Free Regions ROVERS OF THE BARRENS Ruler: His Mighty Lordship, the Ataman of the Standards, Durishi Great Hound, Chief of the Wardogs Capital: none The Rovers are remnants of original Flan tribes who eked out a poor living from banditry in these chill and barren lands. Over the centuries, marauding Oeridian and Suel invaders, the hostility of the Wolf Nomads, and humanoid attacks reduced the Rovers population, and before the Wars, there were just four clans of a handful of tribes each, which had once foolishly tried to attack Iuz. Iuz did not forget that attack, and pincered the remnants of the Rovers with attacks from Stonefist, supplemented by later culling forays from the land of Iuz and humanoids from the Bandit Kingdoms. A pathetic remnant of Rovers still clings to survival in the Wastes, but their land is now occupied by marauding bands of Iuz's forces. The Rovers of the Barrens are effectively no more. Their old lands have not been settled with any permanent citadels or towns by Iuz, who is happy to allow his fiends and humanoids to stalk whatever prey they can find there. SCARLET BROTHERHOOD, THE Ruler: His Peerless Serenity, the Father of Obedience, Korenth Zan Capital: Unknown (see below) Accurate information concerning the Scarlet Brotherhood is notoriously hard to locate, because of its paranoid secrecy and the unreliability of those sources who lay claim to knowledge of it. However, what is known with some certainty is as follows. For at least several generations, a Suel order of monastic militarists has dwelt in the closed city of Kro Terlep and the remote plateau south of it. During this time, the religion and precepts of the Brotherhood formed. The order is one of Suel racism which seeks to subjugate all of the Flanaess to the rule of the Suloise (despite its widespread use of humanoid troops), and which embraces evil as the only hope of achieving this end. Members of the Brotherhood are referred to, unsurprisingly, as Brothers, with seniors in the rigid hierarchy being referred to as Elder Brother. The Brotherhood appears to have three distinct echelons. At the bottom are thieves, mostly of chaotic evil alignment. Their leader is known by the unique title of Elder Cousin. Intermediate are the assassins, who are warriors, thieves with special skills relevant to silent slaying, and rare mages and thief-mages. Most of the assassins are believed to be neutral evil. Heading the organization are self-styled monks who live in cloisters and lead rigidly ascetic lives. Most are lawful evil in alignment and include a few warriors, some mages, and a handful of priests. These priests remain extremely secretive about their religion, which is not exported to the new dominions the Brotherhood holds. One terrible name has been mentioned in this context: Tharizdun. During the wars, the Brotherhood emerged as major winners, gaining control of the southern waters. Its thieves made excellent spies and its assassins brought whole nations to their knees. The scarlet-clad monks who followed to administer the new satellite states had the way paved for them by ruthless cunning and ingenuity. Although the Scarlet Brotherhood's ultimate goal is known, only guesses can be made concerning much of its activities. The Brotherhood has made extensive forays into Hepmonaland and the Amedio Jungle, both home to "degenerate" Suel people. It has seemed extraordinarily easy for the Brotherhood to recruit veritable armies of the jungle dwellers to aid their campaigns and keep order in invaded states. Hepmonaland is very rich in resources, including rare woods, spices, ivory, gems, and platinum, and this has swollen the Brotherhood's coffers considerably. The Brotherhood is also rumored to have extensive breeding programs, both for people and monsters. The monster-breeding is said to be concentrated in endless underground catacombs below a great and splendid secret-shrouded capital city, somewhere on or below the southern plateau. Exactly what the Brotherhood is creating

Cyclopedia—The lands of the Flanaess there is unknown, although rumors circulate of freak, fire-resistant, red-skinned trolls in the hills beyond Irongate, heading from Idee (controlled by the Brotherhood); acid-squirting otyughs in the Vast Swamp; and great spiders with lemurlike arms in the trees of the Dreadwood. Many fear that the Hool Marshes may be infested with other specialized monsters, so that the Brotherhood may have designs on the Yeomanry. The folk of Sunndi keep vigilant watch for mutants and fell things in the Vast Swamp. So far as the human breeding program is concerned, the Father of Obedience sanctions all marriages within the Brotherhood and orders the slaying of infants born outside approved pairings. Brothers and Sisters of the order are often instructed to mate in order to test how certain pairings produce offspring. Disappearances of people with Suel blood from the old Iron League nations suggest that the Brotherhood is eager to expand its programs. The most hideous rumors concern the attempted interbreeding of monsters with captured humans and demihumans. No firm evidence exists of such abominations, but the rumors are persistent. Finally, the number of agents the Brotherhood has still in foreign lands is unknown. S EA BARONS Ruler: His Noble Prominence Basmajian Arras, Lord High Admiral of Asperdi, Commander of the Sea Barons Capital: Asperdi The people of these lands are a mix of Oeridian and Flan. Centuries ago, the Overking established four baronial island fiefs here, instructing each to build squadrons of ships and compete with each other. Whichever proved best in naval warfare would be appointed supreme baron, admiral of Aerdy, and be duly rewarded with Imperial favor. Old Baron Asperdi won the contest, and now, the baron of that island rules the Sea Barons. The main duties of the Barons in serving Aerdy were to fight off the Frost and Ice Barbarians and the Lordship of the Isles, which they carried out without great enthusiasm. The old High Admiral, Sencho Foy, suffered a sad mishap early in Aerdy's entry into the Greyhawk Wars. He choked on a fishbone stuck in his throat (although some say the dagger which had impaled the fishbone first did the important damage). Under Admiral Basmajian, the Sea Barons remained out of the Wars and kept their fleets largely confined to their ports and the Solnor Ocean. The Sea Barons now raid parts of the eastern coast of Aerdy (though they trade with Rel Astra), skirmish with Lendore and the Lordship of the Isles, and prefer to avoid needless combats with the barbarians. The seamen and barons here are very uncertain of their future, not knowing with whom to ally. They have kept Scarlet Brotherhood "advisers" at a safe distance after seeing what happened to Latmac Ranold. Basmajian himself is believed to favor an alliance with Ratik and the Frost Barbarians, but it will be years before the other barons agree to any kind of binding concord. SEA PRINCES, HOLD OF THE Ruler: Elder Brother Hammandaturian, Shepherd of the Sea Princes Capital: Monmurg (pop. 15,500) The Sea Princes come from old piratical stock based on Jetsom, Flotsom, and Fairwind Isles. They preyed on Keoland's southern borders and extended their pillage as far as the Pomarj and beyond at the height of their power. Keolandish naval strength subdued them at the Battle of Jetsom Island, and the wiser Sea Princes turned to an easier target—the Amedio Jungle—and trade of the ivory, spices, and woods found there. Eventually, the lands south of the Hool Marshes became settled, and the Princes practiced less and less raiding outside of Amedio. Before the war, the Sea Princes had superb vessels and well-trained sailors, and were peaceable if unscrupulous merchants. The most objectionable aspect of their country was the institution of slavery, to which many Amedians were wretchedly subjected. The Sea Princes were forced to surrender to the Scarlet Brotherhood without a battle being fought. Of the 30 leading nobles, 27 were dead at the hands of assassins within a week of initially laughing away the demand for their surrender. The handful left to sign did so readily. Now these

Cyclopedia—The lands of the Ylanaess lands are ruled with an iron grip by the Brotherhood, who has imported more "savages" into the land. And since this land is so much farther from their own land than their other conquests, a handful of powerful mages, together with welltrained and vicious monsters, were also imported. Trained tyrgs and high-morale norkers are used for patrols by the invaders. Few of the local people were able to flee to the Yeomanry or Keoland, so swift was the fall of the Sea Princes. Virtually none of the ships in its superb fleets were kept from the hands of the Brotherhood. The seamen of these lands now sail as ordered by the Brothers; no ship is allowed to set sail without a significant number of Brothers on board. Inland, there is a slow trickle of people into the southern Yeomanry, but the Hool Marshes are the death of most of these would-be exiles. Those who escape speak of tyrannical rule, exemplary public executions for misdemeanors, and a climate of terror in the land. SHIELD LANDS, THE Ruler: Her Most Honorable Ladyship, Countess Katarina of Walworth, Knight Commander of the Shield Lands, in exile (Iuz) Capital: Amundfort (pop. 6,200) The growth of the Shield Lands was a direct result of the reaction by nobles with lands just north of the Nyr Dyv to the growth of the Bandit Kingdoms. The Earl of Walworth was chosen as Knight Commander, given Walworth's strategic island location with the only major city (and that being a fortified port). A holy order, the Knights of Holy Shielding, was consecrated at Walworth to the service of the Powers of lawful good (most notably Heironeous). Supported by Urnst and Furyondy, the Shield Landers fought off increasingly severe raids from the Horned Society lands for many years before the Wars. Yet when the War came, Earl Holmer made a terrible mistake on this score after those lands had fallen to Iuz. Warned by Belvor of Furyondy of the growing might of Iuz, Holmer refused direct Furyondian military aid, suspecting that Belvor wished to annex the Shield Lands. A flanking maneuver by Iuz's forces, east through the Bandit Kingdoms and thus into the Shield Lands, caught Holmer and his generals myopically peering north and ensured the vital element of surprise. Nearly half the knights of the lands fell in the strategic retreat to Admundfort. Armies were evacuated in large measure across the Nyr Dyv to Furyondy, Dyvers, Urnst, and Greyhawk before Admundfort fell to Iuz. Iuz gleefully installed fiends as a mock council of nobles in Admundfort, presided over by an especially cruel and sadistic marilith. Holmer himself was taken to the dungeons of Dorakaa, to an unknown fate. Exiled Knights of Holy Shielding are found in Greyhawk, Dyvers, Urnst, and in exile in Willip. Since Holmer's presumed death, his cousin Katarina has taken his title and leads the Knights as a negotiator and representative; she is a young paladin of Heironeous and makes up with charisma what she lacks in tact. The Knights are proud and valorous men and women, and to have hit hard times in which some must work as mercenaries and bodyguards for merchants does not rest easy on their pride. SNOW BARBARIANS (KINGDOM OF SCHNAI) Ruler: His Bellicose Majesty, King Ingemar Hartensen of the Schnai Capital: Soull (pop. 5,500) The Snow Barbarians are the strongest and most numerous of the northern Suel peoples. They claim suzerainty over all the barbarian peoples, especially the Cruskii, and are rather patronizing toward them. However, they have allied with their fellows against the Great Kingdom for many decades and have been known to make occasional forays against the Sea Barons. Their alliance with Ratik is less cemented than that of the Cruskii, but Ingemar seems amenable to continued cooperation after the events of the Wars. He also has great hatred for the Stonefisters, and wishes to mount a joint expedition with the other barbarian races through the Griff Mountains to lay waste to Kelten. Time will tell if this comes to fruition. The Snow Barbarians share many characteristics with their brethren, but are the palest of all, many being almost albinoid. Platinum-blond hair is not unusual. Their womenfolk have an unearthly beauty and are often found as animal

Cyclopedia—The Lands of the Flanaess trainers (dogs and dog-wolf hybrids), scouts, rangers, druids, or the like, despite the dominant chauvinism of their men. This is a proud and strong race. SOUTH PROVINCE: see Great Kingdom, South Province SPINDRIFT ISLES : see Lendore Isles STERICH, EARLDOM OF Ruler: His Magnitude, Querchard, Earl of Sterich, in exile (none) Capital: Istivin (pop. 7,000) Sterich was in name a vassal of Keoland before the War, but it maintained complete independence in everyday affairs, bound only by a military treaty compelling it to come to Keoland's aid if required. It is ironic that, when the major blow of the War fell in this area, Keoland's delay in aiding the brave Sterish people resulted in the loss of the land to giants and humanoids. Most Sterish escaped to Keoland, the Yeomanry, or Gran March. Many preferred the latter options because of anger at Keoland's failure to support their small state. Querchard escaped to Niole Dra. The mountain dwarves of the Jotens and Stark Mounds have mostly fled and taken up residence with their brothers in the Keolandish Good Hills. Sterich's renowned halberdiers and medium cavalry suffered severe casualties attempting to repulse invaders during the giant troubles. Several companies have since reformed in the Gran March and Yeomanry, and plan the reconquest of their homeland, together with the dwarves and other demihumans of the lands (gnomes and halflings). The Sterish in exile are doughty and not dismayed; they truly believe they will be going home before many years have elapsed. They work hard as artisans, laborers, mercenarieswhatever employment they can get. "You work as hard as a Sterish" is becoming a compliment in the lands they now dwell within. Back within their own lands, ores, gnolls, and ogres overrun and ruin the land. Giants are relatively fewer in number than in Geoff. Almost all livestock has been eaten. Towns and villages have been burned and razed. Sterich is a watseland under a continuous pall of black smoke from the burnings. In Istivin, a giant calling himself "King Galmoor" is reported to have a mockery of a royal court, but how long he will survive the jealousy of his fellows is dubious. The population figure for the capital includes only a few hundred human slaves; the rest of that number comprises humanoids. STONEFIST, HOLD OF Ruler: His Most Grim and Terrible Might, the Master of the Hold, Sevvord Redbeard (Iuz) Capital: Vlekstaad (pop. 1,950) The original Stonefist, one Vlek Col Vlekzed, founded his chiefdom around CY 430. Vlek was cast out from the Rovers of the Barrens for banditry, deceit, and murder, but a small number of warriors and their families followed this harsh and brutal but charismatic man. Revenge strikes against the Rovers brought him more followers from the ranks of the disaffected, corrupt, evil, and homicidally insane. An extraordinary later exploit—despoiling part of Tenh, heading down into the Bandit Kingdoms to recruit more followers, fending off a retributive strike from the Tenhas, kidnapping more bandits for followers, and finally establishing a fortified camp base - added to Vlek's charisma and reputation. Vlek ruled by terror and brutality, but his people loved him for it. After his death, the Mastership of the Hold became a semi-hereditary position and title. Vlek's descendants (he had 351 sons by his scores of wives), if they survived to maturity, had to compete in a bi-annual "Rite of Battle Fitness." The winner became a warband chief (with the option to challenge the Master). The surviving losers joined the standing warbands—the "Fists"—as sub-chiefs and leaders of raiding parties. From this mix of settled and semi-nomadic people, Vlek's descendants created a fierce and savage raiding force. It is little wonder that Iuz sought to use this machinery of war. Sevvord Redbeard was magically ensnared by Iuz's fiends, but what Iuz whispered to him was very much to his taste, anyway. Redbeard's brutal massacres in Tenh only enhanced his reputation, and his Fists swagger across their own lands, those of

Cyclopedia—The Lands of the Flanaess Tenh, and part of the old Bandit Kingdoms in the bargain. Seword may be little more than a pawn of Iuz now, but Iuz is careful not to make this obvious to the strong, independent Fists and their chiefs. Iuz does not dispatch fiends, Boneheart leaders, or hobgoblins openly into Stonefist or Tenh. His control is exerted purely through Seword, and this suits Iuz, since diluting his own forces by having to assign more of them here would not be wise. If Iuz's magical control could somehow be identified and broken, it is intriguing to think upon the consequences. The people of Stonefist are a cruel, bloody bunch with little sense of honor or decency. They are arrogant, contemptuous bullies, always seeking new victims to rob, rape and pillage. SUNNDI, COUNTY OF Ruler: His Brilliant Lordship, Count Hazendel of Sunndi, Olvensteward of the South Capital: Pitchfield (pop. 3,200) The County of Sunndi was originally a fief within a fief, being granted to a loyal peer of the Herzog of the South Province when the Herzog was in favor with the Overking. After a miserable, long period of repressive rule, the Sunndis proclaimed independence and joined the Iron League shortly after its founding. Largely recaptured by the Glorioles Army of Ivid V in the Wars, it was liberated through a combination of uprisings and the derring-do of Commander Osson. Sunndi has managed to remain free; the threat from the north has been replaced by the threat of the Scarlet Brotherhood, whose "advisers" were dispatched just in time to prevent Sunndi from going the way of Onnwall and Idee. Sunndi has formidable natural protections: swamp to the south, and hills and highlands and woods in a ring around the other points of the compass. The swamp is a mixed blessing, since disease and monsters both flourish there, but the Sunndis are happy to have it as a defense. Sunndi is most notable for the harmony between the different races who live there. The gray elven Lord of Sunndi is careful to take plentiful advice not just from his own people, who prowl the woodlands, but from the gnomes and mountain dwarves who mine and man defenses in the Glorioles, Hestermark Highlands, and Hollow Mountains. The Sunndi hillmen are fine shots with slings and crossbows. Sunndi's economic position is difficult because of the problems of exporting the wood, metals, and ores which it can offer for trade. It is very isolated now that Idee has been subverted and conducts only minimal trade with old Aerdy cities. Trade with Dullstrand, and especially Rel Astra, is on the increase. Suundi folk are parochial and ever vigilant. Notably, the gray elves of the land are unusually aggressive to outsiders, and they are as hardworking as the humans or dwarves of the land. TENH, DUCHY OF Ruler: His Radiance, Duke Ehyeh in exile (Stonefist/Iuz) Capital: Nevond Nevnend (pop. 19,000) Tenh was a Flan land, defended against invading Oeridians and Suloise by the natural barriers of the Artonsamay, Zumker and Yol rivers, and the Griff Mountains. Coalescing into a distinct state, its minor nobles elected a Duke to command their forces, of which medium cavalry was the most notable. Tenhs fall at the hands of Stonefist was sudden and swift. Bitter recriminations, as well as rumors of corruption, siphoning of military monies, and even deliberate betrayal, abound among the exiles. The Tenhas are now divided into three main groups. About three-quarters of the population was unable to escape the speedy incursions of the Fists. They are now effectively enslaved by the occupiers of the land. Some are rounded up by Fists and herded to camps on the western borders, to be handed over to agents of Iuz for untold horrors. A few of those who escaped made it into the Phostwood and south into the Nutherwood, where they survive as best they can. The remainder sought refuge in the County of Urnst (as did their Duke), or in northernmost Nyrond. These exiles are coolly received by the locals of their new homes, because the arrogance and laziness of the Tenhas is a byword in Urnst and Nyrond. Alcoholism, prostitution, and debauch has been the fate of many of these wretched ex-

Cyclopedia—The lands of the Flanaess iles. Even those with some skills to offer are caught up in black despair. TIGER NOMADS (CHAKYIK) Ruler: The Unvanquishable Tiger Lord, Ilkhan Cligit of the Chakyik Hordes Capital: Yecha (pop. 4,000) The Tiger Nomads are tough, hardy horsemen dwelling on the prairies north of the Yatils. They are nomadic herdsmen and hunters, but because of their proximity to more civilized nations, they have a handful of settled towns, villages, and trading posts. Some even mine small quantities of silver and gems from the Yecha Hills, and they trade with Perrenland and Ekbir. However, some of the tribes here raid both these nations, and the Wolf Nomad lands as well. The Tiger Nomads are Baklunish people, many of whom do not speak the Common tongue of the Flanaess. Tiger Nomad banners bear the likeness of a tiger, tiger tail pennants, and similar elements. The Ilkhan's robe of state is a tiger skin, reportedly that of a sabre-tooth, while the lesser khans wear the pelts of normal tigers. The nomads' typical raiding party is light cavalry, armed with horn bows and lances similar to those of the Paynim. Small infantry garrisons protect the towns and villages. The Tiger Nomads' religion and way of life is very similar to that of the Paynim peoples, with whom they share the same ancestral stock. TL'SMIT Ruler: His Exalted Splendor, the Pasha of Tusmit, Muammar Qharan Capital: Sefmur (pop. 19,000) The Baklunish state of Tusmit plays one neighbor against another—Ket, Ekbir, Zeif, the Paynims, and so forth. Tusmit is a land vulnerable to aggression, with no major natural defenses against invasion, and so has specialized in crafty diplomacy in order to retain its own fertile farmlands and grazing. The original tribal inhabitants of this land are mostly settled, and few lead a nomadic life. With Ket's attentions turned to the east, Tusmit feels more secure under its charismatic young leader than it has for some generations. The society, religion, and troops of Tusmit are similar to those of the Paynims and Tiger Nomads, save that infantry is a greater percentage of military strength. The ordinary people are generally proficient with both scimitar and a second weapon such as mace or flail. The economy is mainly agrarian. ULEK, COUNTY OF Ruler: His Noble Mercy, Lewenn, Count Palatine of Ulek Capital: Jurnre (pop. 12,000) The County of Ulek has a predominantly Suel racial mix. It is very cosmopolitan, with many demihumans, and no few war refugees from Bissel, the Principality of Ulek, and the western lands within its borders. Its troops aided Keoland with some ambivalence during the Wars, given Keoland's former ambitions on the Ulek states, but Ulek suffered relatively few casualties. Since the Lortmils were culled of humanoids in the socalled Hateful Wars at the start of the century, the County has been peaceful. It remains richly resourced. The County's wealth is used to fortify its southern cities, notably the citadel and walled city of Jurnre, given the menace of the Pomarj humanoids. Aid is channeled to Furyondy. There are rumors that the Ulek and Urnst states are forming a diplomatic alliance, both being concerned that their relative wealth should be used to support impoverished neighbors effectively. War has affected the people of the County little in terms of quality of life, but their general outlook has been changed by the loss of so much of the Principality. Ulek folk tend to be serious and watchful, with a strong sense of social responsibility and justice. There is a powerful sense of community within this land, and no few of the people here favor a war against the Pomarj to recapture lost Principality territory. ULEK, DUCHY OF Ruler: His Noble Radiance, Duke Grenowin of Ulek Capital: Tringlee (pop. 14,200) The Duchy of Ulek is dominated and ruled by high and sylvan elves. Many half-elven folk are

Cyclopedia—The lands of the Flanaess within its boundaries. As Keolandish rule abated, the Duchy moved to strengthen ties with Celene and the other Ulek states, although good relations with Keoland have been the norm also. The Duchy finds itself in a difficult situation politically. There is a strong feeling among its people, elven as well as human, of support for the Principality of Ulek, and for exiled men of Geoff and Sterich. At the same time, the Duchy has major trade and political links with Celene via the gnomes of the Kron Hills, and Celene has adopted a consistently isolationist position throughout the Wars and afterward. The Duke favors continued diplomacy. The mood among several of his most powerful nobles, however, is to support those elves within Celene who oppose their Queen and favor strong military action against the Pomarj to liberate the eastern Principality. These nobles support the Knights of Luna in Celene, who seek not just to liberate the south, but also to give more active support to the Veluna/Furyondy alliance. The Duchy of Ulek is a beautiful land; its towns feature fine architecture with a strong elven influence, many parks and open spaces, statues, and works of art. People take a strong pride in the appearance of their settlements and have a strong civic sense. Adventurers from the Duchy travel the central Flanaess looking for opportunities to further the cause of good. Its elven fighter-mages are renowned for their abilities, and Ulek hillsfolk, in particular, are tough, hardy adventurers. ULEK, PRINCIPALITY OF Ruler: His Serene Highness, Lord of the Peaks of Haven, Prince Olinstaad Corond Capital: Gryrax (pop. 21,000) The dwarf-ruled Principality has always been a friendly mix of dwarves and gnomes (who mined the rich hills) and humans (who did most of the farming, manned the naval squadrons based in Gryrax, and comprised the cavalry of the land). Ulek's dwarven infantry has seen much combat during the century, being involved in the Hateful War, skirmishing regularly with Pomarj humanoids, and finally suffering defeats at their hands under Turrosh Mak. The eastern half of the Principality was utterly lost during the War, and the beleaguered stronghold of Havenhill anchors a chain of new citadels being constructed in the hills. Gryrax itself lies barely thirty miles from the vermin of the Pomarj and is swollen with dwarf and gnome refugees from the eastern lands. The mood among these demi-humans, in particular, is one of hatred and a burning desire for revenge. Prince Corond is most concerned with protecting the eastern mines of the hills, which contain so much of the Principality's wealth. He negotiates with the other Ulek states, the Kron Hills gnomes, and even the free cities of the Wild Coast. Corond believes that he has some debts to call in; while the Principality didn't formally ally with Furyondy and Veluna during the Wars, one of the worst-kept secrets is that many of its best warriors traveled north as volunteers; this weakening of Ulek defenses cost this state much of its precious territory. Unfortunately, Furyondy is not in a position to reward the Prince; Veluna can offer little, being desperate to support its eastern neighbor as a primary task. However, Corond has plenty of friends, riches, and a strong body of fighting men. If a major battle is to come in the immediate future, the men and dwarves of the Principality may well be on the field of combat. It is also said that the Prince and his agents are eagerly looking for adventurers willing to undertake a number of missions to recover lost magical treasures. I L L Ruler: His Illustrious Ferocity, Orakhan Draske Capital: Ulakand (pop. 6,000) The Uli, a strong Paynim tribal clan, claimed the rich lands between the Barrier Peaks and Ulsprue Mountains hundreds of years ago. They have held them ever since, despite occasional forays against them by their more nomadic cousins. In the south of Ull, Ulakand is a sprawling caravan town, and there are numerous hill and mountain villages also. To the north, settlements thin out, and more of the Uli lead a seminomadic life. Other Paynims rarely seek to attack Ull. The horsemen of the plains here have a superb cavalry armed with huge bows, ornate and very effective pole arms, and great maces; a majority of the -, 41

Cyclopedia—The lands of the Flanaess cavalry riders have exceptional strength in addition to good mobility. The Uli trade with other Baklunish and Paynims, selling copper and gems from their hill mines, livestock, and (very rarely and only for an excessive price) their magnificent warhorses. As traders, they are very crafty and sly and appreciate the same qualities in those they deal with. Their general social and religious lives are similar to those of other Paynims, save that they are obviously far less nomadic. URNST, COUNTY OF Ruler: Her Noble Brilliancy, Countess Belissica Capital: Radigast City (pop. 42,000) Urnst separated from Nyrond soon after that states's secession from the Great Kingdom. Urnst has a history of hostility toward Aerdy, despite the Oeridian origins of most of its people. The County is allied with and technically under the protection of the Duchy of Urnst, but the ruling House of Gellor is independent and diplomatic, and the County rules its own affairs. Relations between the two states are very close now that Iuz threatens the borders of the County; the states have a mutual aid pact. Naval squadrons based at Radigast City patrol the Nyr Dyv in an informal agreement with those of Furyondy, in order to secure this vital lake. The native population has been somewhat increased by an influx of Tenhas (including the exiled Duke Ehyeh and his family), who are not greatly liked by the indigenous folk, and also by Nyrondese artisans and scholars, who are better received. Urnst did not suffer significant losses in the War, and the County and Duchy are now important bankrollers for Nyrond. Politically, Urnst is very active these days. The Countess fully supports Duke Karll's diplomacy with Greyhawk and the Ulek states, while working hard to make sure that the latter in particular fully support the independence of her own nation. URNST, DUCHY OF Ruler: His Most Lordly Grace, Warden of the Abbor-Alz, Duke Karll Capital: Leukish (pop. 24,000) The Duchy of Urnst has had powerful struggles in the past to establish its independence from Aerdy and Nyrond, a tribute to the richness of this land. Platinum, gold, and electrum are mined in the western Cairn Hills and Abbor-Alz, and the western Nesser basin is among the most fertile cropland in the whole Flanaess. Nyrondese and Shield Landers have flocked to this state, many bringing the valuables they could escape with, and now the Duchy is a dominant power despite its small size. Duke Karll has let this go to his head somewhat. He is determined to marry his eldest son to the daughter of the Countess of Urnst, allying the lands into one entity. Karll dispenses aid to Nyrond while extracting full measure for his largesse. However, at home he has also initiated a campaign against the fairly notorious civil and commercial corruption once rampant in Leukish and Nellix. He shows greater wisdom in his discussions with Greyhawk and Ulek, and it may be that the Duke is a wiser man dealing with those he perceives to be equals than with those he feels are at a disadvantage in dealing with him. He is attentive to the gnomes and dwarves who supply so much of Ulek's wealth from the mines of the west and south. Finally, Leukish is an important and burgeoning city, with exiled scholars and artisans, a handful of allegedly reformed bandits looking for monies and equipment for forays into their old stamping grounds (or gainful employment almost anywhere), a strong navy, and a powerful group of mages housed within the fomidable might of Leukish Castle. VALLEY OF THE MAGE, THE Ruler: His Most Magical Authority, the Exalted Mage of the Valley and Laird of the Domain, Jaran Krimeeah Capital: none It is said that Jaran was born in Rauxes, a distant relation of the then ruling house of Rax, and has a paranoid hatred of old Aerdy. There are many tales of his westward wanderings before he came upon this secluded, almost impregnable valley some decades past. He ingratiated himself with the resident valley elves, gnomes, and small groups of treefolk, and has ruled this place ever since. 42

Cyclopedia—The lands of the Flanaess The inhabitants of the Valley repulse all efforts to explore their home, and well-equipped and powerful adventuring groups have not returned from forays here despite persistent rumors of men returning with sacks full of platinum and gems. The inhabitants of the Valley remain untouched by the events of the Wars, and are as secretive and little-known now as they have always been. VELINA, ARCHCLERICY OF Ruler: His Venerable Reverence, Shepherd of the Faithful, Canon Hazen Capital: Mitrik (pop. 12,000) The Archclericy of Veluna has long been a shining example of the better side of humankind in the Flanaess. Since the state became independent, it has supported righteous causes whenever possible, dealt fairly and justly with its neighbors, and become involved in military conflict only in self-defense (as during the Short War). Veluna allied with Furyondy in the Greyhawk Wars, but did not suffer the loss of men, territory, and riches its unfortunate neighbor did. Veluna remains rich, and it is a focus of support for goodly nations all around it—Furyondy, the Highfolk, the gnomes of the Kron Hills, Verbobonc, and the Gran March. Velunese diplomacy is the major hand at work in maintaining cohesion between all the non-evil central Flanaess states, so far as such cohesion exists. Velunese agents have taken a strong role in unmasking Scarlet Brotherhood agents since the kidnapping of the Provost of Veluna, while themselves acting as eyes and ears for the rulers of Veluna. Veluna's armies stay in a state of readiness. The nation is renowned for its powerful and numerous medium cavalry and the deadly elven bowmen who support its well-disciplined infantry. Exiled Bisselites and a few Furyondians who feel safer in Veluna form a small, but superbly marshalled addition to the pikemen of this land. Canon Hazen is a High Priest of Rao, and all deities of lawful good are widely revered throughout Veluna. The Canon and his hierarchy are supported by seven noble houses—the Plar of Veluna being the foremost. The Viscount of Verbobonc is a willing vassal of Veluna, and his presence increases the size of the Canon's advisory council to eight, although he is a fading man of late (see the entry for Verbobonc). Veluna is the brightest hope of good in the Flanaess now. One secret support it gives to a faraway beseiged state is worthy of note. Within Mitrik there is a hidden teleportation circle which allows the transfer of inanimate objects to and from Irongate, and this is used to transport ores and metals from that beleaguered city here for sale, with vital material needs (food, cloth, utensils, weapons, etc.) passing in the other direction. Only small quantities can be transported each day, but this trickle of exchange is vital in supporting Irongate. It is rumored that one of the Circle of Five is responsible for establishing this, probably Bigby, who fled from his home in Scant when the Scarlet Brotherhood struck. He was known to have links with the dwarves of Irongate. VERBOBONC, V1SCOINTY AM) FREE CITY OF: see Free Regions WILD COAST, LEAGUE OF FREE CITIES OF: see Free Regions WOLF NOMADS (WEGWIl R) Ruler: The Fearless Wolf Leader, Tarkhan of all the Wegwiur, Commander of the Relentless Horde, Bargru Capital: Eru-Tovar (pop. 4,000) This Baklunish people is similar to the Tiger Nomads in social organization. They are somewhat more settled in a handful of towns, and marginally more "civilized," due to greater contact with Perrenland in particular, with whom they conduct much trade. Their old conflicts with the Rovers of the Barrens were replaced with forays against them by Iuzs humanoids when the evil land rose, but the Wolf Nomads give as least as good as they get in such fights. They periodically raid the Tiger Nomads, but are dimly aware of the burgeoning might of Iuz, and internomad raids are now less common. The capital, Eru-Tovar, lies close to Iuz, and the city of Ungra Balan is now the center of com43

Cyclopedia—The lands of the Flanaess mercial transactions and home to a handful of the wild-eyed, half-mad tribal mages of the Wolf Nomads, who wear the great winter wolf skins and tails otherwise allowed only to important leaders. YEOMANRY, THE Ruler: His Steadfastness Crispin Redwell the Freeholder, Spokesman for the Yeomanry League Capital: Loftwick (pop. 8,000) Early in the history of this land, the Flan-Suel race that settled here had a strong democratic tradition of government. The warriors of all the tribes in the land elected spokesmen who themselves elected a single spokesman who would convene tribal meetings and negotiations. This democratic tradition persisted under a moderately lengthy period of Keolandish rule, since the Keolanders had the wisdom to listen to those they had conquered. Yeomanry warriors served in the Keolandish armies for decades, but at the height of Keoland's expansionism, the freemen of the Yeomanry revolted and closed their doors to Keolandish rule forever. This daring move was successful primarily because Keoland was over-extended dealing with other neighboring lands and a major internal revolt at the time. The result has been the creation of a state ruled by its warrior caste through their spokesmen. During the Wars, the Yeomanry was willing to aid Furyondy against Iuz, but the giant troubles guaranteed that its forces had to stay within the nation's confines. Unlike the unfortunates of Geoff and the Sterish, the stout, well-trained and armed Yeomen fought off the giant/humanoid incursions and this state remains a strong, powerful, and well-equipped armed camp. All those who bear arms, have borne arms, or serve as artisans and craftsmen are allowed to elect spokesmen, but this amounts very nearly to universal suffrage. Nearly all common men and women of the Yeomanry own at least leather armor, a hand weapon, and a bow of some kind, and many own polearms as well. Landowners equip their peasants with such armor and weapons and train them in self-defense militia as a matter of course. The Yeomanry is wealthy from trade, but does not import mercenaries to defend the vital silver and gem mines in its hills and the Jotens; it is proud to protect them itself in alliance with dwarves, strengthened by refugees from Sterich. The state is also notable for a small minority of high elves, who are important in commerce and trade and also form the core of a small but powerful group of mages centered around Loftwick. Despite its wealth and strength, the Yeomanry does not seek political muscle in the Flanaess. Keoland is distrusted because of its historical ambitions on the land, and there is a powerful mood against sending aid to the north. People are aware that, had this happened during the Greyhawk Wars, the Yeomanry might have fallen to giants. The Yeomanry extends support directly only to the demihumans in the hills and mountains around its borders, and maintains its excellent armies of spearmen, crossbowmen, mountain troops, elvish spear and bow units, and dwarven mailed infantry. ZEIF, SULTANATE OF Ruler: His Omnipotence, the Glory of the West, Sultan Murad Capital: Zeif (pop. 41,000) The Sultanate of Zeif is the westernmost land in the Flanaess, extending beyond the mapped region, and is the oldest surviving Baklunish state, its southern boundary marking the furthest point of the effects of the Invoked Devastation. It is also the most settled of the Flanaess Baklunish states, with almost no wandering peoples within its western lands. The originally nomadic tribes soon settled in the richly fertile lands along the coast, warmed by the currents of the southern Dramidj. Farming and the raising of horses and other livestock are the staple resource of Zeif, although the Sultan has a secret source of chrysoberyls and peridots of exceptional quality which are usually sold to western nations through Ket. Little is known of Zeif. It is said to have territorial ambitions on Ekbir and Tusmit, which may have originally been tributary states, but there is no recent history of major military conflict in these lands. 44

Free Regions Free Regions DYVERS, FREE AND INDEPENDENT CITY Ruler: His Excellency Margus, the Magister of Dyvers Population: 49,000 (city) Dyvers was originally a city within Furyondy, an important trading center with lake and river traffic from Bissel, Nyrond, Urnst, and even lands as far away as Perrenland (down the Velverdyva) and the Theocracy of the Pale. Dyvers proclaimed itself a free city in 526 CY, alleging that it was uncomfortable with Furyondy allying with a state whose policies Dyvers found overly restrictive (i.e., Veluna). This was probably just a pretext, but King Thrommel II of Furyondy allowed the secession to pass in return for Dyvers continuing to contribute taxes and levies to Furyondian coffers. Dyvers lays claim to some 2,000 square miles of territory along the south bank of the Velverdyva to the Gnarley Forest. It also claims a number of small islands at the mouth of the great river, which are heavily wharfed and warehoused and form the center of the River Quarter of the city. Its rulers are drawn by meritocratic vote from mages, scholars, experienced warriors, and priests. Dyvers has a somewhat declining income from trade, but its fishing vessels still capture good harvests of gar, pike, and a golden, carplike fish from the Nyr Dyv. Its influx of refugees has been a mixed blessing. Many mercenaries come to Dyvers seeking employment, and some skilled people have settled here. On the other hand, in the poorer quarters of the city, many Shield Landers (among others) have sought refuge, and overcrowding is now a major problem. Not unnaturally, Dyversians blame the incomers for an epidemic outbreak of a typhuslike illness which killed nearly a thousand folk shortly after the Shield Landers' mass influx from Admundfort. Internecine assaults and murders are not unusual. The constables of the Watch, famous for their ostentatious insignia and the flashy epaulettes of their officers, often have their work cut out maintaining peace. At least Dyvers' army and militias have been strengthened by recruitment from the best of the Shield Landers, and a handful of good warriors have fled here from the conquered lands of the west (Bissel, Geoff, Sterich). Dyvers has something of a rivalry with Greyhawk City, since their territories now overlap to the east. Dyvers looks upon Greyhawk's expansion with some ill ease. GREYHAWK, FREE CITY OF Ruler: His Solemn Authority, the Lord Mayor of Greyhawk, Nerof Gasgal Population: 66,500 (city) This great metropolis is richly detailed in the City of Greyhawk boxed set. In the companion Campaign Book within this box, much additional detail is given regarding the growth of Greyhawk and the lands it rules; consult this additional source. IIK.III Oi k (FREE TOWN AND VALLEY OF THE VEIVKRHYVA) Ruler: The Worthy Sir, Mayor of Highfolk, Loftin Greystand Capital: none (city known as Highfolk has pop. 9,000) The term "Highfolk" is applied both to the largest city in this small realm and to the land as a whole. The Mayor is the elected spokesman for the free town, but also speaks for the region when this is deemed appropriate by the populace. It is principally a realm of high and wood elves, without a fixed boundary, since control over the southern and western parts of the Vesve Forest (named the High Forest by the Highfolk) fluctuates between the demihumans and rangers of that domain and the fell creatures of Iuz. The Highfolk are all strongly independent and free-spirited. The Lord of the High Elves usually speaks for the Highfolk on grand, formal occasions, or the Mayor speaks with the Lord's consent. The word of a gnome prince or village elder of the human woodsmen or farmers counts for at least as much within their own communities, if not more. This domain is strategically important to Furyondy, whose diplomats, spies, and military advisers work closely with the Highfolk. Preventing its fall to Iuz keeps Furyondy's north-

Free Regions western flank unexposed and maintains the vital trade link to Perrenland. Furyondy needs the products of the forest, especially its strong woods. The Highfolk people are all well-trained warriors who specialize as lightly-armored, mobile bowmen and specialists. Their only heavy troops are the Knights of the Hart (High Forest), an order that has links with the Furyondians of the same name. The Pact of Greyhawk did not set precise boundaries for Iuz and the Highfolk within the Vesve for the simple reason that no accurate map of the internal features of the Vesve could be found. Iuz feels free to interpret the Pact as giving him domain over all of it, and the Highfolk can look forward to skirmishes and battles for many years. The town of Highfolk is also important as a stop-off point for adventurers heading for the Yatils or Clatspurs. While monsters aplenty are ready to greet such brave souls, the Yatils in particular have a whole host of legends pertaining to lost magical treasures, any one of which would make a man's fortune for life. There are still those who wish to seek fame and fortune by searching for them. Most do not return, of course. IRONGATE, FREE CITY OF Ruler: His Resolute Honor, Lord Mayor of Irongate, Cobb Darg Population: 48,000 (city) This large, walled city originally thrived on sea trade via Onnwal and the west. It has a history of almost contemptuous independence from the Great Kingdom, and was an eager founding member of the Iron League in 446 CY. It was able to maintain a significant naval force for generations, and its own troops mixed fierce and strong infantry with accurate and deadly crossbowmen. Cobb Darg is a ruler of exceptional wit and guile. He watched the spies of the Scarlet Brotherhood carefully in the pre-war days, unwilling to accept their smooth words at face value, and had the whole group rounded up and despatched or expelled just as Onnwal and Idee fell. Irongate's armies also decisively repulsed Ahlissan forces when Sunndi could not. The Free City is a determined, strong body of folk. Duke Coriell of Onnwall took refuge here during the war. Irongate is now almost under seige. Its navy has been largely sunk by Scarlet Brotherhood forces, and the bulk of the population is confined within the city. Half of those who used to live in the hilly lands around have fled into its safety. Only a handful of dwarven mining clans stay beyond the security of its walls. Irongate dwarves are excavating a tunnel system to the most important of the mines, working night and day, aware that while they are throwing a lifeline to their brethren, they are also establishing an entry point into the city. Work is apace reinforcing and strengthening all city walls, towers, and keeps, with the dwarves again playing a leading role. This feeling of imminent seige brings out the stoic, strongest qualities of the dwarven race, and the humans of Irongate realize what an asset they have in their presence. Dwarven priests, together with a handful of priests of Ulaa, have bound powerful warding spells into Irongate's defenses. Irongate has a vital teleportation link to Mitrik (see entry for Veluna in previous section) which enables a steady trickle of trade to continue. Of course, the Scarlet Brotherhood is technically at peace with Irongate, and Irongate could ship its goods out safely by sea—in theory. The Scarlet Brotherhood would, of course, deny any responsibility for those ships being attacked by kraken, sea serpents, or similar monsters. The folk of Irongate are no fools. Irongate also manages some trade with the old South Province of the Great Kingdom, and from the Iron Hills some perilous trade with Sunndi manages to continue. But Irongate remains a city under seige, and outsiders are carefully policed and watched at all times, and allowed to stay only briefly and within a specified, small area. R EL ASTRA, FREE CITY OF Ruler: His Most Lordly Nobility, Eternal Custodian and Lord Protector of Rel Astra, Drax the Invulnerable Population: 57,000 (city)